The fear intelligent aliens might have evolved into a rapacious nomadic species that will eat humans as food is again prompting popular theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking to plead for discontinuing efforts to contact whatever life is out there in the Universe.

He again warned that "meeting an advanced civilization could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus -- that didn't turn out so well" in a newly released 25 minute online film called "Stephen Hawking's Favorite Places."

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His call for extreme caution mirrors that of another theoretical physicist, Michio Kaku, who in 2012 famously quipped that if humans ever have to face hostile aliens in battle, "it would be like Bambi meeting Godzilla," with humans being Bambi.

"If they're that advanced ... they are already thousands of years ahead of us in technology, and we would present no military challenge to such an advanced civilization."

In his new video, Hawking says that if aliens do make contact with us "We should be wary of answering back. Meeting an advanced civilization could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus -- that didn't turn out so well."

In 2010, Hawking said humans should "only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet."

"I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach."

In his new video released on the online platform Curiosity Stream, Hawking visits the planet Gliese 832c located 16 light years away in the constellation Grus orbiting the star Gliese 832. Gliese 832c is one of the best exoplanet candidates for life outside the Earth.

"It's a breathtaking sight, a super-Earth five times more massive than ours," says Hawking in the video.

The planet has an Earth Similarity Index of 0.81, one of the highest Earth Similarity Indices for any known exoplanet. It located in its star's habitable zone.

There are many efforts underway to discover alien life ranging from NASA's Mars mission to the three-decade old Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in California.

TagsStephen Hawking, extraterrestrial aliens, Stephen Hawking's Favorite Places, MIchio Kaku, SETI