SECOND ‘WOW! SIGNAL’ PROVES EXISTENCE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE
In 1977, the scientific community was rocked by the announcement that Dr. Jerry Ehman at Ohio State University's SETI program, had received a narrow-band radio signal on August 15, lasting 72 seconds, a signal that bore all the expected hallmarks of an artificial, non-Solar System transmission from interstellar space.
The signal emanated from near the binary star group Chi Sagitarii, part of the constellation Sagitarrius, 220 light-years from Earth. It was widely regarded as the best candidate for a message from an extra-terrestrial intelligence ever discovered, astonishing evidence of an advanced technological civilization existing on another world.
There was only one problem--that signal was never received again, despite searches that continued intermittently over the next 25 years.
In the aftermath of the Wow! Signal and subsequent silence among the stars, discussion, controversy and conflicted opinions have continued to rage among the scientific and lay community. Some experts contended that interpretation of the signal was faulty, merely our misunderstanding of some natural if unexplainable piece of astrophysical data. Others have maintained that the signal was indeed exactly what it appeareda message from another world, and speculations included a rotating lighthouse-like source, a signal sweeping in frequencies we had missed, perhaps a one-time burst like an emergency or alarm, or a signal that had been interrupted or deliberately cut off for reasons unknown. In any case, cutbacks in government funding for SETI research severely crippled the search for evidence of intelligent life on other worlds, and the meaning of the Wow! Signal appeared likely to remain an unsolved mystery, possibly forever.
Until a few days ago. On Wednesday, March 27, 2013 and again on March 28, radio telescopes at the National Astronomy & Ionosphere Center in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and the Jansky Very Large Array near Socorro, New Mexico, both detected the abrupt return of the Wow! Signal.
Once again, the 72-second signal has been received, but this time it was both independently confirmed and (more significantly) the entire signal was recorded. Stunned researchers agreed that in view of the incredible implications of this astonishing event, announcement of the re-appearance of the Wow! Signal should be withheld until more definitive analysis of the signal could be accomplished. New and previously undetected modulations and sub-frequency harmonics had been detected within the signal; advances in both radio telescope reception and computer interpretation since 1977 made it likely that more sophisticated and definitive analysis of the signal were certainly promising.
After 72 hours of frenetic clandestine analysis by scientists around the world, the Wow! Signal has been not only verified, but decoded and understood. Today, researchers announced the final results of nearly 25 years of scientific effort, patience and diligence. The statement below is the interpreted text of humanitys first message from the depths of interstellar space, conclusive proof that not only does intelligent life exist on other worlds, but that that intelligence has much in common with our own.
Hello youve reached (Chi Sagittarii) C-57-Dsorry, but theres no one available to take your call. Please leave your message after the beep and well get back to you as soon as possible
Theyre Out Thereand theyre not accepting any calls
Tags
Who is online
244 visitors
What, nobody likes an April Fool rap?