E.T. Phones From Home!
Decades after the discovery and failed retrace of the Wow! signal in 1977, the world is abuzz again with the detection of a distinctive signal from beyond our solar system – this time with a seemingly definitive intention to transmit a message to us.
At around 2:20 AM PST today, Forbes Varley – a Canadian volunteer participant in the SETI (“Search for Extra-Terrestial Intelligence”) project – picked up an unusual radio signal from the skies. Intrigued by the dramatic spike in the signal-to-noise ratio, he immediately contacted the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) and forwarded the recording for their review. By 4:00 AM PST, the SETI Institute in California was receiving reports from all across the world with similar findings.
The signal, which lasts approximately 41 seconds, appears to originate from the Southern Pleiades star cluster in the Carina constellation.
“What makes this so remarkable is the regularity in its pulses,” commented Dr. Spencer Berg, an astronomer who has been involved in SETI for the last fifteen years. “There is an unmistakable rhythm to it that suggests intelligence is behind its transmission.” The rhythm was eventually identified to be strikingly akin to Morse code.
Dr. Aria Bole, a SETI physicist, was amazed when the signal was later confirmed to be a message sent in Morse code. “This is perhaps the most important discovery for mankind,” she exclaimed. “The significance is not only in the fact that there is now tangible proof that we are not alone in this Universe, but also in the way we received this proof. It was transmitted via Morse code, which means that whomever these intelligent beings are, they must have been observing us for some time and know that we would recognize it.”
Once confirmed, the Morse code was immediately recorded to be the following:
-.– — ..- .- .-. . -. — – .- .-.. — -. . .-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.- .. -. -… . .. -. –. -.. ..- .–. . -.. — -. .- .–. .-. .. .-.. ..-. — — .-.. …
The conversion to English is as follows:
Y OUA RENO TA LON E…INBE INGD UPED ONA PR ILFO OLS
However, as yet, the resulting message remains incomprehensible and there is speculation that there may be an additional cipher to be determined that is scrambling the message.
SETI is currently requesting the assistance of anyone who is able to break through the unknown cipher. Interested parties are asked to notify SETI with any breakthroughs via the contact information on their website.
This is truly an exciting time for all of us humans as we have finally found the answer to the age-old question: “Are we alone in the Universe?”
Did you write this? It’s hilarious, though I was super excited until I got down to the punch line. Then I was angry for being duped!
Yep – clearly, I was a little bored. Just a little
Beauty! This one is worthy of the newspapers.