Forget Inflation: The One Out-of-This-World Event That Could Crash the Pound Tomorrow

Speculation about extraterrestrial life has long occupied the fringes of public debate, but a former senior policy expert at the UK's central bank believes the issue is now serious enough to demand contingency planning at the highest levels of finance.

As theories around alien intelligence gain momentum and talk of imminent disclosure intensifies, the prospect of an official announcement is being framed not as science fiction, but as a potential systemic risk to global markets.

The warning comes amid growing attention on the United States, where lawmakers and defence agencies have in recent years acknowledged unexplained aerial encounters and declassified limited information on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs).

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For some observers, these developments suggest that confirmation of non-human intelligence may be approaching. While such a disclosure would represent a historic scientific moment, it could also, according to one former insider, unleash severe economic consequences.

A Warning From Inside The Central Bank

Helen McCaw, who spent a decade working at the Bank of England in financial security, has urged policymakers to confront the possibility that sudden confirmation of extraterrestrial life could destabilise markets, undermine confidence in institutions and even trigger bank failures.

Her concerns, outlined in correspondence reported by The Sunday Times, reflect fears that governments and central banks remain dangerously unprepared for the psychological and financial shock such news could provoke.

McCaw wrote directly to Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, cautioning that an announcement by the White House confirming alien intelligence could spark extreme volatility across global financial systems.

She reportedly pointed to what she described as a 'multi-year process' underway in the United States to declassify and disclose information related to UAPs and non-human intelligence.

'The United States government appears to be partway through a multi-year process to declassify and disclose information on the existence of a technologically advanced non-human intelligence responsible for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena,' McCaw wrote, according to The Times.

Her message argued that markets are particularly vulnerable to sudden shifts in collective belief. If investors and the public were forced to reassess humanity's place in the universe overnight, she warned, the result could be panic-driven sell-offs or irrational exuberance, both of which could threaten financial stability.

McCaw suggested that even a temporary collapse in confidence could place strain on banks already exposed to fragile market sentiment.

Fear Of 'Ontological Shock'

Beyond market mechanics, McCaw raised concerns about what she described as 'ontological shock,' the psychological impact of learning that humanity is not alone.

She argued that such a revelation would challenge fundamental assumptions about power, authority and security, potentially eclipsing the influence of governments themselves.

'If the UAP proves to be of non-human origin, we may have to acknowledge the existence of a power or intelligence greater than any government and with potentially unknown intentions,' she said. 'It is entirely possible that government leadership and their central banks have not been properly briefed on the topic.'

According to McCaw, this lack of preparation could magnify the economic fallout. She warned of 'extreme price volatility in financial markets due to catastrophising or euphoria', as well as the risk of civil unrest if public trust eroded.

Harvard University professor and 3I/ATLAS observer Avi Leob also pitched in the topic, revealing that McCaw even reached out to him, shortly after he begun talking about the interstellar object.

In a Medium post, he adds that central banks should treat the possibility of alien disclosure as a low-probability but high-impact event, similar to a financial 'black swan' that demands advance planning.

Her intervention is notable because it comes not from a fringe commentator but from a former analyst embedded in the UK's financial security apparatus.

While governments have offered no indication that confirmation of extraterrestrial life is imminent, McCaw's warning underscores a broader anxiety: that markets are poorly equipped to absorb shocks rooted not in economics, but in existential uncertainty.

For now, official silence prevails. Yet as discussion of UAPs grows louder and public disclosures inch forward, one former central bank insider believes the cost of ignoring the issue may be far higher than policymakers expect.