Will Smith could be scaring off alien life if they have intercepted our TV broadcasts and mistake Men in Black for reality, an expert has claimed.
Nick Pope, 53, worked for the British Government and probed UFOs for the MOD, and said it is likely that extraterrestrial life is aware of our existence and could even be monitoring us.
He said it would be easy for an advanced race to watch our TV, but they may not be aware of what fiction is and might think that Men in Black and Independence Day are documentaries.
Nick said that after watching the Oscars, where Smith appeared to slap comedian Chris Rock, any alien lifeform thinking about visiting earth could now be rethinking it.
What do you think about Nick's theory? Let us know in the comments...
Mr Pope said: "If extraterrestrials are watching Earth - either monitoring us as part of a scientific study of emerging civilisations or maybe as reconnaissance, ahead of an alien invasion - they'll get a lot of their information about us from our TV broadcasts.
"What will they make of the fiasco at this year's Oscars ceremony?
"Aliens will already know Will Smith from Independence Day, where he punched out an alien and uttered the immortal line ‘welcome to Earth’
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"They'll also know him from the Men in Black movies, so if aliens are planning an invasion, they'll think Will Smith is often the person we put up to defend ourselves.
"Aliens may also think he's one of Earth's ruling elite, if they've heard the phrase Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
"All this depends on whether aliens understand the concept of fiction.
"If they don't, they'll think Earth has already fought off multiple alien invasions, and that may have a deterrent effect."
A follow-up request by the Mirror confirmed that Mr Pope was not joking.
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