How can there be experts?

Alan Boyle writes:

Experts have hammered out a simplified game plan to follow in the event that signals from an extraterrestrial civilization are ever detected. The new guidelines for dealing with theoretical radio transmissions from E.T. were adopted unanimously by the International Academy of Astronautics' SETI Permanent Study group last week during a meeting in Prague, the Czech capital.

TAE asks: how can there be experts in something that has not happened nor is there any evidence that it will ever happen?
Can a man be an expert in what giving birth feels like? Can a person be an expert on translating dog barks into English? How can someone be an expert in "the event in which signals from an extraterrestrial civilization are detected"?

TAE suggests that he is an expert in what to do in the event that Harry Potter has bad breath.
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