2026-06-22 11:02:31

A scientist has claimed aliens would struggle to find a decent meal if they landed on Earth.

José Miguel Soriano del Castillo, Professor of Nutrition and Bromatology [food science] at the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Valencia in Spain, has written an essay debating what aliens might snack on if they landed here and he’s speculated they might not be able to find much to have for dinner.

In the piece written for The Conversation, Professor del Castillo started by insisting there is “no scientific evidence that extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth, let alone any information about what they eat” but he went on to speculate about what they might snack on.

He wrote: “If an extraterrestrial visitor were based on carbon, water and chemistry similar to that found on Earth, our planet offer them a somewhat risky buffet. There is liquid water, as well as salts, organic carbon, sugars, fats, amino acids and minerals – but also potential toxins, pathogens, allergens and other incompatible molecules.

“Earth’s food would not necessarily be edible for them. Terrestrial protein might be of no use if their digestive systems used different amino acids. Our sugars might prove useless if their metabolism could not handle them. Our bacteria may devastate alien life – or perhaps not infect it at all.”

He went on to claim reports of cows being abducted by aliens could be reinterpreted as extraterrestrials trying out the food on offer on our planet and insisted aliens might actually prefer Earth’s mineral resources.

Professor del Castillo wrote: “So if aliens were to arrive, they might not be looking for human ‘food’ but for raw materials: water, nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, salts, lipids, microbial biomass or simple organic molecules.

“The classic image of aliens abducting cattle could be speculatively reinterpreted not as cosmic malice, but as nutritional sampling. Not that it makes any difference to the cows, unfortunately.”

He went on to conclude: “If aliens ever do reach our planet, they might not come to steal things, conquer us or reveal cosmic secrets. Perhaps they would simply come to eat better, but if they really wanted to understand our diet, they would have to learn one final Earthly lesson.

“Here, eating isn’t just about consuming energy – it’s about spending time together.”

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