I seriously doubt I'll be around then to celebrate with you guys (since I'd be 112), so I'll start celebrating now.
^ He was born in the early in the 2030's http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Zefram_Cochrane That WWIII radiation apparently isn't so great on your skin
And when SETI still hasn't received an alien signal? When NASA still hasn't confirmed an inhabited planet in the Galaxy, with its mighty telescopes? Then what? Will a STAR TREK author be summoned to right the wrong with yet another government cover-up story? What - oh, what - are we gonna do?!?!?!
The Vulcans probably quarantined our system after all of the shenanigans of the 40's and 50's. Earth attracted attention from outside with all of the radio traffic blasting into space beginning in the 20's and 30's. And then WW2 turned us into a tourist destination with so much warfare to see from above. Amphibious landings here, major naval engagement there, huge tank battles out in the desert, major urban warfare in many large cities. Then with radioactivity being detected around the globe. The interstelar betting began on who would get nuked first and when the planet woulkd destroy itself. Then in the 50's our audience got bored and started interfering, hoping to move things along. With all of the UFO sightings and the carelessness at Roswell. The Vulcans said enough and made us off limits except for passive scientific study missions. Maybe nobody is answering our calls because they are letting the call go to voicemail. "Caller ID says it's those creepy humans calling again."
Calling occupants of interplanetary craft! Calling occupants...of interplanetary, most extraordinary, craft.
I still say that we are, in fact, living in the Mirror Universe, and when the Vulcans show up in 49 years we're going to murder the shit out of them.
I wonder how, or even if, fan opinions would change about STAR TREK, if alien contact was made at any time. Would the show suddenly appear hokey in comparison to the reality of whatever transpires? Indeed, would all of sci-fi seem suddenly rediculous? What aliens look or act like, I wouldn't hazard a guess. But if nothing else changed, sci-fi very probably would. Some would say "religion, too" but I don't really buy into that, myself, personally ...
There's the optimism and hope that I think the OP meant to suggest!!! If we can work in a little latitude here, couldn't our welcoming party use something a bit more ostentatious or exciting than that old humdrum sawed off? How about a contemporary Streetsweeper, a well preserved MP5, or even an honest to goodness primitive laser? Hell, the Robinsons had 'em over 60 years earlier!!!