We're being probed

[Kuja]

The aliens seem to be following a similar pattern to our own when we landed on the moon: simple probes, complex probes, flybys, and a landing.

We should definately keep an eye out for anything that might be a crewed ship.

[Sea Skimmer]

The fact that they're trying to avoid areas of human settlement seems to mean they're more interested in the planet than us. Why would that be?

Unless they have FTL drive, Aliens would have had to launch those probes a rather long time ago, possibul thousands of years when humans wheren't doing to much of intrest, avoiding human settlement might e mere chance or a product of a collision avoidance system that refined the landing points.

[Darth Raptor]

Unless they have FTL drive, Aliens would have had to launch those probes a rather long time ago, possibul thousands of years when humans wheren't doing to much of intrest, avoiding human settlement might e mere chance or a product of a collision avoidance system that refined the landing points.

There's evidence to suggest the system of origin is within a 20 lightyear radius. Also, analysis of the engines suggest that the probe delivery vehicles can travel at speeds approaching C. The oldest probe is not likely to be more than forty years old.

[Darth Wong]

The aliens seem to be aware of us as the probes have been landing in isolated locations away from major human cities

That does not follow. Statistically speaking, random impacts are likely to be away from human cities, which are important to us but which cover only a miniscule fraction of the Earth's surface.

and the recent rash of rovers and flying probes have tried to evade capture but none have tried to harm anyone.

A preliminary military scouting operation does not normally attempt to cause damage. I wouldn't read anything into this.

Are we concerned about this or happy?

Both. Happy that there are obviously intelligent life forms besides us in the universe and concerned because we don't know their intentions.

[NecronLord]

Remember folks, just because the probes have come from 20 Ly out, doesn't mean that they're lauching these from twenty Ly away. A ship in system with these shells studded across the surface would produce the same results, as well as provinding capability to modify the probes based on the results of previous probing expeditions.

If so, we can assume that

1. These aliens are vastly more advanced than we are, they have interstellar travel.
2. They have been in a position to intercept our transmissions since the sixties. (OP) They have not bothered to contact us, and have remained undetected (not hard) and have not made any effort to contact us.

From A we can assume that in all likelyhood, a millitary confrontation with their species (assuming them not to be cliche'd pacifists) would result in a royal reaming for us. From B we can assume that their intent is probably non hostile, or they are unable to attack us until re-enforcements arrive. Unfortunately for us, given near C capabilities, they could well be arriving any time forty years after the first contact, in the nineteen-sixties (first known contact), therefore, if they're hostile, we're in trouble. Hopefully they will not become involved and move on to another world after aquiring data on this one.

[Crazy_Vasey]

It's X-COM time, baby. An international organisation to combat the alien threat by capturing and replicating the alien technology. Booyah! Dibs on the first flying suit

Or we could just cower in abject terror and hope they're not going to kill us all.

[Gil Hamilton]

There's evidence to suggest the system of origin is within a 20 lightyear radius. Also, analysis of the engines suggest that the probe delivery vehicles can travel at speeds approaching C. The oldest probe is not likely to be more than forty years old.

That's the thing, just because it can travel a speeds approaching the speed of light doesn't mean that does so. After all, the space shuttle, theoretically, can approach the speed of light too, if you can some how give it vast amounts of fuel or have one hell of a booster. Plus, it has to accelerate up to the speed of light and slow back down again to soft land. After all, if it's drives top acceleration is five gravities (49 m/s/s), it's going to take a hell of a long time to accelerate up to speed. It might not even get up to speed. It may be able to physically get up there, but covers so much distance doing it that it has to hit it's turnover point well before it ever gets up to speed. It could take a long time to get from, say, Epsilion Eridani to Earth, even though by galactic standards we are bunkmates. Such a probe could end up doing what Sea Skimmer described, their telescopes from their home system or launch system say that Earth is in the right place, has the right temperature, and has a nice big moon, so they can tell Earth's mass and therefore gravity, in other words, worth taking a look at. They don't detect radiowaves, so any locals, if any, probably aren't too advanced. So they start boosting probes to the system, two centuries later they arrive and whoops, their landing zones are filled with urban sprawl, so the collision detectors on the probe do evasive action to land somewhere that isn't filled with crap.

[Admiral Valdemar]

It's X-COM time, baby. An international organisation to combat the alien threat by capturing and replicating the alien technology. Booyah! Dibs on the first flying suit

Or we could just cower in abject terror and hope they're not going to kill us all.

So it's time to make X-COM, SHADO, NERV and SPECTRUM to counter this alien threat?

Hmm, that'd be a nice career...

[SyntaxVorlon]

It's X-COM time, baby. An international organisation to combat the alien threat by capturing and replicating the alien technology. Booyah! Dibs on the first flying suit

Or we could just cower in abject terror and hope they're not going to kill us all.

So it's time to make X-COM, SHADO, NERV and SPECTRUM to counter this alien threat?

Hmm, that'd be a nice career...

Don't forget UNIT and the SDS.

[dworkin]

Or the Astro Investigation And Defense Service.

"The bastards have landed"

[Comosicus]

Or the MIB

[SirNitram]

We should be very, very worried. With near c capabilities, nothing stops them from simply shelling us back into the stone age on approach. If their intents are hostile, we have a chance approaching zero.

Otherwise, however, we should look long and hard at that recovered probe for how to get our own fusion projects running, and our own engines.

[Kuja]

Or the MIB

You speak as though the MiB did not exist already.