if e.t. is proven to exist, and the government does admit that for 50 years area 51 has been an alien research base, do you think the world will change in the sense that all religions will be questioned? or do you think most people will simply accept it and the world will go on like it has been for millons of years? all i have to say is that when the aliens come here it could go either way

Exactly it could go either way. But I would have thought that more questions would be asked rather than answered?

Encountering an alien species would be THE MOST SIGNIFICANT event in human history, period. Few facets of human belief and of the history of civilization would go unchanged.

Just think of how much life changed for Native Americans when they first encountered the Spanish...

alot of it depends on how the aliens act when they reveal themselves to the general public

if they are nice or hostile

if they are 2 or 200,000

if they are little green men or 20 foot tall polka-dotted lizards

could just be a fascinated curiosity, or it could be anarchy

you mean I wasn't the only person seeing the dotted lizards!
seriously it will truly factor heavily on P.R. just like et'sdaddy said.

were on a 72 hour news cycle i'd say after 48 hrs everyone would be over it.