Mark Zuckerberg© Bloomberg via Getty Images

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg allegedly has proof of intelligent life in the Universe – but is waiting to share the evidence for fear of sparking society’s collapse.

Britain’s top ufologist Mark Christopher Lee says he has been told the Breakthrough Listen initiative has received a signal from outer space from real life ETs. Lee claims there has been a reluctance to share the evidence for fear of ‘catastrophic disclosure’ – the theory humans will not be able to cope with the reality that aliens are real.

It constantly studies the 1million closest stars to Earth and beyond the Milky Way and listens for messages from the 100 closest galaxies using the world’s most powerful instruments 50 times more sensitive than telescopes dedicated to the task of finding intelligent life.

alien© Getty Images/iStockphoto

The radio surveys cover 10 times more of the sky than previous programs. They cover five times more of the radio spectrum, do it 100 times faster and are sensitive enough to hear a common aircraft radar transmitting from any of the 1,000 nearest stars.

Spectroscopic searches could detect a 100-watt laser – the energy of a household bulb – from 25trillion miles away.

Lee said he has been told by a university professor the initiative – driven by Zuckerberg – had proof ‘we are not alone’.

He said: “We’re on the edge of finding that there’s going to be life in the universe. It’s just whether it’s intelligent life. Apparently Mark Zuckerberg’s Breakthrough Listen programme has found an intelligent signal and is sitting on it.”

Mark Zuckerberg© Anadolu via Getty Images

He said the expert who informed him of the breakthrough was ‘100% confident that we have the proof that we’re not alone’ and ‘there is intelligent life in the universe’.

“But they’re holding onto it at the moment just for fear of the ramifications, I guess,” Lee added.

The film-maker, who has made a series of documentaries about UFOs, said proof of alien life would fundamentally change how humans understand each other as a species.

He claimed the Catholic Church – now under the stewardship of new US Pope Leo XIV – is already prepared for the acknowledgment that aliens are real.

Clerics intend to introduce a blessing for extraterrestrials in masses as they believe God created everything including beings from other planets, Lee said.

“Once we establish some sort of first contact it changes things and the world’s leaders need to step up for a new era,” he said.

“In the Catholic Church one of the Monsignors has already said he would give mass and bless alien life because it would fall under God’s jurisdiction – because God created everything. The Vatican must not be silent. It must lead. And that begins with transparency, courage, and preparation.

“The previous Pope Leo laid the groundwork by opening the Church to the stars – literally – with the founding of the Vatican Observatory. Now this new Pope has a chance to finish what was started.”

Zuckerberg, 41, who is chief executive officer of social media giant Meta and reportedly worth £166billion after setting up Facebook in 2004, had not responded to a request for comment.