It is feared that unintentional and un-thought out communication with extra terrestrials will herald a wave of unwanted attention from alien beings and this is totally illegal, what the unofficial embargo on unauthorised communications with other worldly beings. It is also thought that music may be the medium of choice for these communications.

NASA, for reasons strictly on a need to know basis, beamed a Beatles track towards the North Star, much to the consternation of SETI, the organisation that is searching for life on Mars, or any other planet come to that.

Fortunately, this slip up on behalf of NASA has caused no unwanted attention - so far. Advertising humanities place in the universe without organised back up could possibly be responsible for the wiping out of mankind. Any alien species capable of picking up any communication from earth, deciphering it and having the means to find us would be far more advanced than mankind and assumed unfriendly.

According to the SETI institute, if symbolic messages are sent into outer space, there needs to be worldwide consultation on what they will say, if anything is sent at all.

For those of us with mp3 music, how about we all get together and have a simultaneous session of playing The Cheeky Girls? Surely that would be enough to deter any unwanted attention? There must be an abundance of mp3 music that could possibly deter alien invasion. Or encourage it? Which way shall we go?

We could arm ourselves with mp3 music from David Bowie. He always had a fascination for beings from outer space. Bowie suggested there was a starman waiting in the sky, he's like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds. He also suggests we try tuning into channel two on the TV to make contact. Not quite beaming music into space but you never know.

Continuing with the Mars theme, Blondie produced Rapture. In the musical sense, not the physical, unless you were a late teen in the early eighties when she would have done it for you. However, I digress.

According to her music, out comes a man from Mars, you try to run but he's got a gun. He shoots you dead, then eats your head, then you're in the man from Mars and go out all night eating cars!

Aiming our mp3 music towards Mars with this kind of offering is bound to put them in a bad mood!

Sheb Wooley thinks he knows how to identify an alien. Apparently, they are purple people eaters with one long horn, one big eye, pigeon toed and undergrowed. If you get accosted by anything matching this description whilst listening to your mp3 music, be sure to hand over the goods and report this incident to your nearest mental institution for evaluation.

Of course, any fans of the Carpenters mp3 music will appreciate their more professional approach to alien interaction. They realise that 'in your mind you have capacities....to telepath messages through the vast unknown'. They are calling occupants of interplanetary craft, acknowledging 'you've been observing our earth' and reassuring them 'we'd like to make contact with you, we are your friends'.

And just how do they know? If SETI are right in what they are saying, and aliens may not be little green men with cute faces and three fingers, then maybe we should be more careful what we put across the airwaves.