The Wow! Signal
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 1:00 pmHas anybody heard of this?
Apparently in 1977, at some place called the Big Ear Center at Ohio State U (Big Ear, I think, is owned by SETI--The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), scientists received a spike in a narrowband radio signal.
What they do at Big Ear is listen for radio signals from aliens, to put it bluntly. And they got what they think could be one in 1977, and it lasted something like 75 seconds. All it was was a surge in their radio signals, no alien words or Na-nu na-nu, just a surge. I think their radio antennae (Big Ear had two in 1977; now, it's gone to make way for a golf course) were rotating, and they caught the spike for the full duration that their first antenna was pointing at it. By the time the second one came around three minutes later, the signal was gone. So they can't corroborate it. But for the last 30 years, they've been trying to figure out what else it could be and the only explanation they can come up with is actual alien contact.
20 or so years before, two scientists published what they think would be the most likely conditions for an alien signal. They said it would be on radio since it's cheap on energy and travels at the speed of light for an incredible distance, and they said it would come between frequency 1420.356 and 1420.456 MHz, which is some range that has to do with hydrogen (they picked hydrogen because it's the most common element). And that's exactly what this signal did.
A problem is that, if it was an alien signal, why didn't they repeat it? We haven't heard anything since, not even three minutes later. Also, they looked at where the signal was coming from and there's nothing there. No planet or anything. Maybe something was there when the signal was sent?
Makes you wonder.
Apparently in 1977, at some place called the Big Ear Center at Ohio State U (Big Ear, I think, is owned by SETI--The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), scientists received a spike in a narrowband radio signal.
What they do at Big Ear is listen for radio signals from aliens, to put it bluntly. And they got what they think could be one in 1977, and it lasted something like 75 seconds. All it was was a surge in their radio signals, no alien words or Na-nu na-nu, just a surge. I think their radio antennae (Big Ear had two in 1977; now, it's gone to make way for a golf course) were rotating, and they caught the spike for the full duration that their first antenna was pointing at it. By the time the second one came around three minutes later, the signal was gone. So they can't corroborate it. But for the last 30 years, they've been trying to figure out what else it could be and the only explanation they can come up with is actual alien contact.
20 or so years before, two scientists published what they think would be the most likely conditions for an alien signal. They said it would be on radio since it's cheap on energy and travels at the speed of light for an incredible distance, and they said it would come between frequency 1420.356 and 1420.456 MHz, which is some range that has to do with hydrogen (they picked hydrogen because it's the most common element). And that's exactly what this signal did.
A problem is that, if it was an alien signal, why didn't they repeat it? We haven't heard anything since, not even three minutes later. Also, they looked at where the signal was coming from and there's nothing there. No planet or anything. Maybe something was there when the signal was sent?
Makes you wonder.
