Space boffins have come forward to reveal an "alien invasion is inevitable" with the government putting plans in place that don't involve the public.
Experts have discussed how we might respond to a signal from space and now associate professor in linguistics Jessica Coon has lifted the lid on how we could talk to so-called aliens if they land on our planet.
++ Sex in Space: Alien abductions REVEALED ++
Humans need to be looking for patterns in communications similar to how we do with each other and establish what we want to know, the boffin claimed.
A "good rule" is to kick off the communication with an introduction, she said.
And the expert from McGill University, Montreal, explained it might help to mime out actions because "visual" signals are a "common starting point".
She said: "When you're dealing with learning a new language, context plays a big role in understanding intent."
Human communications have patterns and we are able to work out what people mean from the context, she explained.
But talking to "aliens" may not turn out to be straight forward, the expert warned.
Ms Coon told WIRED: "We can expect certain patterns with human languages.
"But when we encounter an alien language, we don't know anything about the common properties or cognitive processes.
"All bets are off."