Will humans contact aliens soon? Scientist shares bold timeline prediction

Humanity is on the way to confirming the existence of non-human entities and making contact with aliens within the next 50 years, as predicted by a leading British space scientist.

According to Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a space scientist at University College London and a well-known BBC presenter, scientists would be able to make a “positive detection” of alien life by 2075, as reported by Daily Mirror.

But the early discoveries related to extraterrestrial life will be based on simple organisms rather than intelligent beings.

According to Dame Maggie's prediction, the most probable form of alien life may be like microscopic organisms, called “grey sludge” rather than humanoid entities.

She believed that it is hard to imagine that the universe hosts approximately 200 billion galaxies and life only exists on Earth.

“Our galaxy alone contains around 300 billion stars. We now know many of those stars have planets orbiting them. With so many opportunities for life to emerge, it’s hard to believe we’re alone,” she explained.

Recent discoveries have been the reason behind her belief about alien life. For instance, scientists have discovered the hidden molecules in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b. These molecules could only exist if biological processes are active, thereby raising the chance of life on the exoplanet.

Similarly, NASA in 2025 also reported the strongest evidence related to past life on Mars.