It kind of surprises me how little interest all this has drawn since Grusch and Senator Rubio and Senator Schumer all made public statements last year. And reading/hearing them, there is simply no reasonable doubt of their conviction that there is non-human intelligence with whom we are interacting on some significant level.
One Congressman made a statement that the technology we are dealing with could turn us into "charcoal briquets," and presumably, he has not heard as much as has Senators Schumer and Rubio. Frankly, it would probably be best for our "leaders" to avoid metaphors of our destruction, as "they" have yet to destroy us, and presumably could have at about any time in the past.
While I agree it is the "Story of the Century," it really seems that half of folks came to the belief in the reality of non-human intelligence some time ago, and it is sort of baked into the cake of their daily existence. Maybe a third of folks are dismissive, or are in denial.
In the average conversation, now, with friends and co-workers, someone always says "they" probably are as frightened of us as we are of them . . . . And that is pretty hard to argue with.
