The Bank of England has been urged to prepare for a potential financial crisis triggered by the confirmation of alien life, following warnings from a former senior analyst that global markets could face extreme instability.
The comments come from Helen McCaw, a former financial security expert at the Bank of England, who served at the institution for a decade before leaving in 2012. McCaw has written to governor Andrew Bailey, arguing that disclosure from the US government about non-human intelligence could spark widespread panic or euphoria across financial markets.
According to reporting by The Independent, McCaw warned that politicians and central banks can no longer afford to dismiss the idea of alien life, particularly as US officials continue to signal that more information may soon be made public.
She said a formal confirmation could lead to bank collapses, sudden asset repricing, and a loss of confidence in existing economic models.
Alien life could destabilize financial institutions, report
In her letter, McCaw referenced what she described as an ongoing declassification process in the United States related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs.
She said that if UAPs were confirmed to be of non-human origin, it would force governments and markets to reckon with the existence of an intelligence potentially more advanced than any nation-state, with unknown intentions.
The warning comes amid growing public discussion of UAPs in the US, including the release of the documentary The Age of Disclosure. Directed by Dan Farah, the film features interviews with dozens of current and former US officials and explores claims of a long-running global effort to conceal information about non-human technology.
Among those appearing in the documentary are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and former director of national intelligence James Clapper.
Rubio is quoted in the film as saying the US has repeatedly detected objects operating near restricted nuclear facilities that are not American technology.
McCaw said such disclosures could trigger what she described as “ontological shock,” leading to severe psychological reactions with real economic consequences. She warned of extreme market volatility driven by fear or speculation, as investors struggle to price assets using familiar frameworks.
She added that investors could rush toward traditional safe-haven assets such as gold or government bonds, although even those markets could be destabilized. Speculation about future space-faring technologies could undermine the perceived scarcity of precious metals, stripping them of their safe asset status entirely.
The Bank of England has not publicly responded to the letter.
