If humankind were to discover extraterrestrial life, there isn’t an official plan in place for dealing with it (at least none that I’m aware of). The closest thing to that would be the 26th Space Aggressor Squadron and the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron, both of which exist to deal with the possibility of extraterrestrial warfare. That’s nice, but what happens if we encounter some of the alien-like life that some suspect is hiding among us here on Earth, like a sasquatch or the Loch Ness monster? It turns out that if we do find Nessie, Scotland has a plan ready to go (via BBC).

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), a government-funded body, actually established a plan in 2001, and it’s pretty straightforward: DNA samples should be taken from any new creature, after which it will be released back into the lake from whence it came. SNH’s Nick Halfhide says of the plan, “There was a lot of activity on the loch at the time about Nessie. So, partly serious and partly for a bit of fun, we drew up a contingency plan about how we would help Nessie if and when she was found.”

Interest in the Loch Ness monster was recently reinvigorated because last month, a group of researchers collected DNA samples from the lake. Neil Gemmell, the scientist leading the project, said of the endeavor, “I don’t believe in the idea of a monster, but I’m open to the idea that there are things yet to be discovered and not fully understood. Maybe there’s a biological explanation for some of the stories.”

Do you think we’ll ever find Nessie? Let us know what you think down in the comments!

Featured image: M&R Glasgow/Flickr