Category: Research

Posted on

Cosmic Wake-Up Call: Five Urgent ET Messages for Humankind’s Survival

Most of us will never see a strange light dart across the night sky, let alone claim to be whisked aboard a craft not of this Earth. Yet, tucked away in public databases, government archives, and academic journals lie more than 200,000 firsthand accounts from people who insist such events happened to them. It makes one wonder if there is an extraterrestrial message hidden among the accounts.

No, I don’t have the time to read all those accounts personally, so I told Gemini AI DeepResearch to analyze them all for me. That’s what Large Language Models are good at. An unexpected picture emerged from the mountain of testimony: the alleged visitors, if real, seem far less interested in dazzling us with technology than in warning us about the way we run our planet.

How Many Cases Are We Really Talking About?

• Public databases: Roughly 170,000 sighting and contact reports sit in the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) catalogue, with hundreds added every month.
• Declassified government projects: Project BLUE BOOK’s 12,618 files and the FBI’s post-war “Vault” documents add a further trove.
• Academic & clinical work: Thirty-plus peer-reviewed psychology papers (from Harvard, Goldsmiths, and others) and at least half-a-dozen social-science surveys have examined self-identified abductees and “channelers”—people who claim to relay telepathic messages from non-human intelligences.
• Independent qualitative studies: Another six to ten book-length investigations—by scholars such as the late Harvard psychiatrist John Mack or the late Temple University historian David Jacobs—bring the formal research count to “just over forty.”

Summary

The tenor of over 200,000 UFO reports from credible experiencers, military personnel, and contactees is delivering the same urgent warnings, and it’s time we listened. There appears to be a deliberate, intelligent effort to guide humanity away from self-destruction. Here’s what they’re telling us:

Cosmic Wake-Up Call: Five Urgent ET Messages for Humanity’s Survival
  1. “Disarm Now—Or Face Extinction” (Nuclear Warnings: A Clear Pattern)
    Resonance: Moderate to Low, with pockets of High Concern.
    Politicians & People in Power: While there’s widespread acknowledgment of the catastrophic potential of nuclear weapons, the urgency of immediate and complete disarmament is a highly contentious issue.

    UFOs didn’t just happen to appear over nuclear facilities during the Cold War—they were intervening. Missiles mysteriously deactivated. Radar systems jammed. Military witnesses confirm: Something was sending a message. The message? “Your weapons are a threat to the entire cosmos.” This isn’t speculation—it’s documented.

  2. “Earth is Dying—Act Immediately” (Environmental Crisis: A Dire Alert)
    Resonance: High in Acknowledgment, Moderate to Low in Sufficiently Urgent Action.
    Politicians & People in Power: There is now widespread, almost universal, acknowledgment among world leaders and major institutions that climate change and environmental degradation represent a significant, even existential, crisis.

From Jim Sparks to countless abductees, the message is consistent: “Your planet is in critical condition.” Crop circles, telepathic warnings, and visions of ecological collapse aren’t coincidences—they’re a galactic SOS. ETs aren’t just observing—they’re urging us to change before it’s too late.

  1. “You Are Starseeds—Awaken” (Spiritual & Evolutionary Guidance)
    Resonance: Extremely Low to Non-Existent in mainstream political discourse.
    Politicians & People in Power: This type of message, rooted in specific spiritual or esoteric beliefs like the “Starseed” concept (which posits that some humans originated from other planets or dimensions to help Earth), generally does not resonate in mainstream political circles or among those in positions of secular power.

The most profound encounters aren’t about fear—they’re about ascension. Contactees describe downloads of cosmic knowledge, sudden healing abilities, and an overwhelming sense of universal connection. This isn’t fantasy—it’s a consciousness upgrade. ETs are trying to help humanity evolve beyond war, greed, and separation.

  1. “Unite or Perish” (A Call for Global Solidarity)
    Resonance: Moderate, with Fluctuations based on Context.
    Politicians & People in Power: The idea of global solidarity is frequently invoked in international forums, especially when addressing transboundary challenges like pandemics, climate change, economic crises, and major conflicts.

The idea that ET contact could end human conflict isn’t wishful thinking—it’s inevitable. Once we accept we’re not alone, borders, religions, and ideologies will seem trivial. The message? “You are one species. Start acting like it.”

  1. “The Great Filter is Real—Don’t Fail” (Warning of Civilizational Collapse)
    Resonance: Low in terms of the specific “Great Filter” terminology; Moderate in terms of underlying concern about civilizational threats.

    Politicians & People in Power: The specific astrobiological/futurist concept of “The Great Filter” (a hypothesis suggesting that some event or condition prevents life from becoming an advanced space-faring civilization) is not commonly part of mainstream political discourse.

Advanced civilizations may have already fallen to the same traps we face: war, environmental abuse, and technological recklessness. UFOs could be survivors—or even guardians—trying to steer us away from the cliff.

The Truth is Here—Will We Listen?

This isn’t random noise. The patterns are too consistent, the witnesses too credible, and the stakes too high to ignore. The messages are real. The question is: Will humanity wake up in time?

1. Disarm Nuclear Arms 
2. Heal a Dying Planet  
3. Awaken Your Cosmic Heritage
4. Foster peace and unity
5. Avoid the Great Filter

An Overview of Online UFO Experiencer Reports: Accessibility, Themes, Hostility, and Messages for Humanity

The Enduring Mystery of UFOs & UAPs

The phenomenon of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), now more commonly referred to as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), continues to captivate public imagination and spark intense debate. At the heart of this mystery are the firsthand accounts of individuals who claim encounters with these unexplained objects—or even their alleged occupants. These UFO experiencer reports serve as a unique body of qualitative data, offering insights into personal interpretations of extraordinary events.

This report examines:
✔ The accessibility and estimated number of online UFO reports
✔ Core themes and narratives in experiencer accounts
✔ The spectrum of reported interactions—from hostile to benevolent
✔ Potential messages for humanity embedded in these encounters

Given the diverse and often controversial nature of these reports, a comprehensive approach is necessary—one that acknowledges both scientific skepticism and the profound personal impact these experiences have on those who report them.

🔍 Accessibility & Estimated Number of Online UFO Reports

The internet serves as a vast repository for UFO-related information, with numerous platforms hosting firsthand accounts, government documents, and independent research.

📂 Government & Military Archives

✔ National Archives (NARA) – UAP Records Collection

  • Established under the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, this collection consolidates UAP records from federal agencies.
  • Includes photographs, videos, declassified documents, and ongoing updates.

✔ All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)

  • The Pentagon’s official UAP investigation arm.
  • Analyzed over 800 reports between 2020–2023.

✔ FBI Vault: UFO Files

  • Declassified documents from 1947–1954, offering historical context.

✔ Project BLUE BOOK Records

  • 12,618 investigated cases (1948–1969), with 701 remaining unexplained.

📊 Independent & Crowdsourced Databases

✔ National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC)

UFO TRUTH: Witnesses, speak out!
  • Over 170,000 reports, with hundreds added monthly.
  • One of the largest publicly accessible UFO databases.

✔ CORGIS UFO Sightings Dataset

  • Structured data on 80,000+ sightings (shape, location, duration).

✔ CARTO UFO Sightings Map

  • Interactive visualization of 61,000+ sightings.

✔ GitHub: NUFORC Data Repositories

  • Cleaned datasets for researchers & data analysts.

📚 Specialized Archives & Scholarly Resources

✔ Betty & Barney Hill Papers (UNH)

  • One of the most famous abduction cases in UFO lore.

✔ ARDA: UFO Abductees Survey (1990)

  • Demographic & belief data on self-reported abductees.

✔ Archive-It: UFO Enthusiasts Collection

  • Archived websites from MUFON, NUFORC, and UFO forums.

📌 Estimated Total Online Reports: 200,000+

  • NUFORC: ~170,000
  • Project BLUE BOOK: ~12,000
  • CORGIS/GitHub datasets: ~80,000
  • FBI & other archives: Thousands more

👽 Core Themes in UFO Experiencer Reports

Analysis of these reports reveals recurring patterns in abduction narratives, entity descriptions, and emotional responses.

🛸 The Abduction Narrative

Many accounts follow a structured sequence:

  1. Capture – Sudden inability to move/resist.
  2. Examination – Invasive medical procedures (often reproductive).
  3. Communication – Telepathic messages or warnings.
  4. Return – Often with missing time or physical marks.

👾 Reported Alien Entities

✔ Grey Aliens (most common in North America)
Small, large-headed, slanted black eyes.
✔ Nordic Aliens (often described as benevolent)
Tall, human-like, blond hair.
✔ Non-Humanoid Beings (less common but reported globally).

”On the existence of “Pleiadians”

💬 Communication Methods

✔ Telepathy (most frequent)
✔ Direct speech in the experiencer’s language (rare)
✔ Symbolic or visual messages (e.g., environmental warnings).

Unraveling the Mysteries of Mind-to-Mind Communication Through Quantum Physics

😨 Emotional Responses

✔ Fear & Trauma (most common in abduction cases).
✔ Mystical or Spiritual Awakening (some report profound love/connection).
✔ Sense of Purpose (belief in being part of a “cosmic plan”).

⚠️ Recurring Warnings

✔ Environmental Collapse (“Our planet is dying”).
✔ Nuclear Danger (UFOs frequently seen near nuclear sites).
✔ Humanity’s Self-Destruction (warnings about technology outpacing wisdom).

⚔️ Hostility vs. Benevolence in Alien Encounters

Reports vary widely—from terrifying abductions to uplifting contact.

🔴 Hostile Encounters

✔ Forced Abductions (loss of bodily autonomy).
✔ Medical Experiments (often described as painful).
✔ Animal Mutilations (linked to UFO activity in some cases).
✔ Military Concerns (UAPs in restricted airspace seen as potential threats).

📖 Books on Hostile Cases:

🟢 Benevolent Encounters

✔ Early Contactees (1950s) – Aliens as peaceful guides.
✔ Spiritual Experiences – Feelings of universal love.
✔ Even modern abductees sometimes report healing, guidance, or spiritual uplift.
✔ Environmental Warnings – Urging humanity to change.

⚖️ Neutral/Ambiguous Cases

✔ UFO Sightings Without Interaction (most common).
✔ Observation-Only Encounters (no clear intent).

🌍 Potential Messages for Humanity

While no verified extraterrestrial communication exists, recurring themes suggest:

  1. 🌱 Environmental Crisis – Urgent warnings about Earth’s future. 25-35%
  2. ☢️ Nuclear Peril – UFOs’ frequent presence near nuclear sites. 30-40%
  3. 🕊️ Call for Unity – Speculation that contact could unify humanity.
  4. 🚀 Technological Caution – Fears of self-destruction via unchecked advancement. 15-25%

📌 Key Takeaway: These “messages” may reflect human anxieties.

How is society responding?

Popular culture, for one, has embraced the subject with gusto. Streaming platforms feature dozens of alien-abduction docuseries, while TikTok’s #uaptok hashtag has sailed past half a billion views. Mental-health practitioners quietly report more clients looking for “experiencer support groups” rather than traditional PTSD counseling, suggesting that people who believe they were taken no longer feel entirely alone.

Mainstream science moves more cautiously. In 2023, NASA convened an independent study that called for “serious, stigma-free data collection,” and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics followed suit with its own UAP committee. Medical literature still explains abduction memories largely in terms of sleep paralysis, dissociation, or fantasy proneness, yet outright dismissal is no longer the reflex it once was.

Politics remains the slowest arena. The 2024 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act ordered every federal agency to hand historically significant UAP files to the National Archives, marking an unprecedented bid for transparency. The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has already analyzed more than 800 military encounters and promises a civilian reporting portal. France, Japan, and the United Kingdom have reopened or expanded their public UAP desks. Even so, no head of state has addressed the substance of the alleged messages—neither the nuclear warnings nor the environmental pleas. The United Nations has never tabled a resolution on them. In the halls of power, stigma still whispers more loudly than data.

Are we listening?

Polls by Pew and IPSOS show that a slim majority of Americans now believe intelligent life is visiting Earth. Only twelve percent, however, think their elected leaders treat the subject seriously. Meanwhile, global carbon emissions continue to rise, and the world’s nuclear stockpile just grew for the first time in two decades. If the visitors’ messages are real, we remain stubbornly off script.

A quiet crossroads

The existence of the data is no longer in dispute: more than 200,000 public reports and at least forty formal studies document the phenomenon. Stripped of lurid headlines and Hollywood tropes, the core warnings are surprisingly consistent—dial back nuclear brinkmanship, mend the biosphere, and evolve beyond tribal conflict. Governments have begun to lift the veil of classification, but policy inspired by those warnings is still in its infancy.

Perhaps the most telling statistic is not how many files exist, but how few decision-makers have read them. Disclosure, in other words, is happening. Whether we choose to heed the cosmic nudge remains an open question—one whose answer may determine whether humanity, too, becomes just another cautionary tale in someone else’s sky.

🔎 DATA USED IN THIS META-ANALYSIS

NEWS, ANALYSES & GOVERNMENT COMMENTARY

SCHOLARLY & TECHNICAL PAPERS / VISUALIZATIONS

GENERAL REFERENCE (WIKIPEDIA ET AL.)

BOOKS & COMMERCIAL PAGES

BLOGS, FORUMS & SOCIAL MEDIA

OTHER GOVERNMENT / INSTITUTIONAL MATERIAL

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

DATA RE-PRODUCTIONS & DERIVED SETS

MISCELLANEOUS ACADEMIC & OP-EDS

Posted on

EARTH TO E.T.: WE’VE GONE GHOST!

Earth once blared its presence into space with powerful radio and TV signals—then fell almost silent as we switched to digital and cable. In just a few fleeting decades, our planet’s once-booming “broadcast bubble” shrank to faint whispers, changing Earth’s radio signature. This reshapes our view of the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox. Discover why that brief broadcast window matters. Is it time for humankind to shift from passive listening (SETI) to actively waving hello to the stars with powerful, deliberate beacons (METI)?

1. Early Radio History and Speculation

Early radio transmissions were generally weak. Therefore, they likely did not penetrate the ionosphere. However, as technology advanced, Earth’s radio signature grew. It marked our planet’s cosmic presence.

In the early years of the twentieth century, there was speculation that Extraterrestrials were trying to contact human beings by radio signals. In 1919, Marconi himself encouraged this speculation, claiming he was receiving strange transmissions resembling Morse code, possibly from outer space.

RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO, was one of the first film production and distribution companies of Hollywoods Golden Age. RKO eventually expanded its operations to include television broadcasting.

The sound played during the “A Radio Picture” logo from 1929 is Morse code.

From the beginning, their logo featured a transmission tower relaying a Morse code sequence: VVV A RADIO PICTURE VVVV. “VVV” in Morse code means “attention, incoming message”. “VVVV” may mean: Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus “The Force of Truth Comes Alive”

2. The Rise of Detectable Signals

By 1931, about 25 TV stations in the U.S. were broadcasting television. And those who worry about Carl Sagan’s novel “Contact”: Germany began TV broadcasting in 1935. Any aliens watching Hitler speak in 1936 may have been more excited by Dolores Del Rio, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire and King Kong. (Picture: The special effects crew behind the set of “A Radio Picture” in 1929.)

The “Golden Age of Radio” and the subsequent rise of analog television broadcasting in the mid-20th century marked the first substantial contribution towards Earth’s technosignature. The total estimated radio power escaping into space reached tens to hundreds of megawatts by the 1970s. Powerful omnidirectional, analog signals characterized this period. This created an easily detectable “radio bubble” around Earth.

Radio power from TV signals excaping into space, reference: A-Megawatt-Analysis-of-Anthropogenic-Emissions-into-Outer-Space-1900-2025.pdf (PDF 1)

3. Earth as a Cosmic Mirror

In the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), Earth’s radio emissions serve as a “cosmic mirror,” offering a tangible reference for the kinds of signals a distant, technologically advanced civilization might transmit—signals that, in turn, we might hypothetically detect.

4. The Decline of Broad Leakage

TV stations are growing, but their space-bound signal leakage is shrinking as they abandon over-the-air broadcasts. Our peak broad signal leakage—key to the Drake Equation—began falling as focused, less-leaky communication technologies emerged. This transition includes:

  • Satellite Communications: Becoming widespread from the 1970s and 1980s onwards, satellite transmissions are generally directed point-to-point, reducing broad leakage.
  • Cable Television and Fiber Optics: The increasing use of cable TV (reducing over-the-air television broadcasts) and later, fiber optic cables for a vast amount of data transmission. The internet significantly cut down on the amount of radio frequency energy escaping into space. This shift became more pronounced from the late 20th century into the 21st century.
  • Digital Transmissions: Analog broadcasts, which were once more easily detected, are being replaced by digital signals. These digital signals are often more compressed and less likely to leak into space, contributing to Earth becoming “radio quiet” in terms of traditional broadcast leakage.

5. A Short Critique of the Drake Equation’s “L” Parameter

The Drake equation speculates on alien civilizations. In Drake’s original formulation, people often interpret “L” as the total lifespan of a technological civilization.

The Drake Equation, Image © https://sciencenotes.org, Anne Helmenstine 

L – IS NOT simply the longevity of civilizations! Instead it’s the timespan that a civilization releases simple detectable signals.

Earth’s broad radio leakage lasted roughly from the 1930s until the 1980s–90s.
Thus, our planet broadcast Drake-equation-style signals for only about 40–60 years.
Then we switched to spread-spectrum digital, satellite, cable, and internet communications. Now only random radar pings and digital blips leak into space, quickly blending into cosmic background noise (CMB).

A young Carl Sagan explains the Drake equation

Although the Drake equation was a playful practice in the last millennium, by its own metric humankind would no longer exist, because we don’t release significant radio leakage anymore. Hence, the Drake equation is somewhat obsolete. If Earth civilization is a typical technological civilization, then we can expect other civilizations to leave a similar footprint of “L”—about fifty years. That leaves almost no time for any astronomer to detect a signal.

Ever wondered about the Fermi paradox and why we hear nothing of our cosmic neighbors in the radio spectrum? Here is one possible explanation:

We are now almost radio silent in the cosmos!

But because our “L” was only a mean 50 years, that doesn’t mean that we are extinct! It’s just that we have upgraded our communication system. This explains why the focus of SETI is shifting, away from radio signals, towards bio signatures and other technosignatures, not just radiowaves.

SETI shifts away from radio siganls

The “L” (Longevity) variable in the Drake Equation is thus not a simple constant even for a single civilization.

Actually, trying to detect interstellar Extraterrestrial civilizations by radio-signatures is a futile endeavour: it’s like scrolling through static on an old TV and hoping to catch an intergalactic episode of I Love Lucy that’s been bouncing around space for a billion years. No advanced technological civilization would be using radiowaves travelling at a mere 300000 km/sec for interstellar communication. That would be like sending smoke signals across the ocean. The only alien radiowaves we can ever hope to receive are leaked planetary signals and possibly navigational beacons.

Cosmic navigational beacons?

6. Analysis of Earth’s Current Radio Signature

The latest study on Earth’s radiosignature is from Sofia Z. Sheikh et al 2025 AJ 169 118: Earth Detecting Earth: At What Distance Could Earth’s Constellation of Technosignatures Be Detected with Present-day Technology?

Sheikh calculated the detectability of four types of radio emissions from Earth. One conclusion was that an observer can detect planetary radar (Arecibo message from 1975) from the greatest distance. This graphic exemplifies this:

For simplification, I have translated the graph from Sheikh’s study. Labels are written out and “AU” are converted into light-years and kilometers.

Sheikh overlooks that the Arecibo radar message was highly directional—only detectable along its precisely aimed, narrow path.

The Arecibo Message

The “Arecibo message” from 1974 lasted only 168 seconds. Frank Drake, Carl Sagan, and the other organizers of the boadcast did make it clear that the message was intended not as a genuine attempt to contact extraterrestrials, but as a symbolic demonstration of human technological capability.

The Arecibo telescope in December 2021. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Any serious attempt at communication with ETI would have required using Arecibo to send continuous signals into space, not just for three minutes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message

Arecibo telescope after its collapse (December 2021). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Altogether, humankind sent two dozen messages intended for an extraterrestrial audience into space from different telescopes. The total combined efforts in all of history to contact Extraterrestrial civilizations amounted to a measly 62.7 hours of transmissions. Not even three days. That is almost nothing in the billions of years of history of the universe, or life on Earth.
Ref.: Major METI transmissions (PDF 2)

The Arecibo message, with its directional 20 trillion watts (450 kw actual), was sent to the globular cluster M13, 25,000 light-years away. But calculations indicate the signal only penetrates about 12 000 light-years before the interstellar medium (ISM) absorbs it. Pity—what a clever demonstration of human technological prowess that was.

7. Breakdown of Earth’s Transmission- and Key Signal Types

Directional transmission (METI )– you choose a known exoplanet or promising star, minimizing exposure of one’s civilization by targeting needles in haystack, amongst 300- 500 million stars. Takes forever. That is the current strategy, based on the Dark Forest Hypothesis.
Omnidirectional transmission (unintentional METI) – “everyone in the Galaxy” can eavesdrop; historically Earth’s leakage (TV, Radio and nuclear expolsions) was unintended METI.

  • Mobile Communication Leakage (omnidirectional): The Sheikh paper addressed leakage from LTE cellphone communication systems. Researchers estimate the impressive peak power leaking into space from mobile towers is approximately 4 GW. This pales into insignificance when we realize that an observer can only detect these signals from up to about 4 light-years away.
  • Planetary Radar (highly directional): Many radio telescopes can function as radar systems—for example, to measure the distances of Solar System planets or distant asteroids and to assess their probability of impacting Earth. And for about 62.7 hours these systems have also been used to send messages to potential extraterrestrial civilizations.

The following key signal types were omitted from the study on Earth’s radio technosignatures in the Sheikh paper:

  • Television Signals (omnidirectional): Earth’s early Radio and TV bubble was omnidirectional. An observer can detect it in every direction. An extraterrestrial audience could theoretically detect analog television signals—which began broadcasting in the 1930s—from up to 111 light-years away, representing a historical “radio bubble” of our planet’s past emissions. Broadcasters transmitted these signals, which operated in the VHF and UHF ranges, with megawatts of power.
  • Radio Signals (omnidirectional): In contrast, AM and FM radio signals, do not penetrate into space as effectively as higher-frequency signals. While they are powerful enough for terrestrial reception, their intensity diminishes rapidly with distance, limiting their ability to escape Earth’s immediate vicinity into deep space.
  • Radar (directional): The post–World War II era saw significant, continuous growth in radar systems—military, air-traffic-control, and weather—which, despite their pulsed nature, delivered consistently high average power thanks to their high operating frequencies and widespread deployment. By the 2000s, radar emissions into space were estimated at several hundred megawatts. Radar is not omnidirectional. If ETI had instrumentation comparable to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), they might detect our radar transmissions from distances up to approximately 300 light-years.
  • Military Radar (directional): Military radar systems are among the most powerful signals intentionally emitted from Earth. While specific power levels are often not publicly detailed, they are generally described as “significant”. A key characteristic of military radar is its directionality. These signals are designed to be highly directional, focusing their energy into narrow beams to achieve precise detection and tracking of targets. This focused power allows them to be very strong within their beam, making them highly detectable if an extraterrestrial observer is precisely aligned with that beam.
  • Nuclear Explosions (omnidirectional): Humankind has detonated 2,000 nuclear bombs since 1945. The Russian Tsar Bomba of 1961 was the most powerful, and its radio emissions were ten billion times stronger than the Arecibo message.

Using the link-budget formula (PDF 3), we calculate that the Tsar Bomb electromagnetic pulse (PDF 4) could have been (or will be) detected by advanced radiotelescope technology (SKA2) out to roughly 36,000 light-years.

Looking ahead, the capabilities of a more highly advanced extraterrestrial civilization might extend that range to about 1.17 million light-years. That is enough to encompass the volume of the Milky Way, which is estimated to contain 300–500 million habitable planets. Several dwarf galaxies also lie within this volume of space. The thermonuclear Tsar Bomb explosion was by far the strongest radio signal that Earth has ever sent into space.

SETI scientists argue that the short duration of nuclear electromagnetic pulses makes their detection unlikely. That may have been true if those EMP had been the only radio pulses coming from Earth. But as a matter of fact, Earth had been making waves for decades before the barrage of nuclear tests ended. The expanding TV and radio bubble made sure of that. And those broadcasts transmitted 24/7.

8. Challenges of Interstellar Detection: Signal Degradation and Cosmic Noise

How Space Wears Down Radio Signals: Distance and the Interstellar Medium
The journey of any radio signal across 10,000 light-years is governed by the inverse square law, which causes a dramatic reduction in signal intensity. Beyond simple weakening, the interstellar medium (ISM) acts as a complex distorting filter. The ISM gas between the stars can spread out a broadband signal over time. Tiny variations in electron density scatter the waves. That scattering not only stretches the signal in time and space but also produces rapid, unpredictable flickers in intensity. These scintillations can make a message impossible to decode. Such distortions get much worse at lower frequencies. That is why astronomers favor the 1–10 GHz “microwave window”, the best range for sending signals across interstellar space.

The Cosmic Veil: Distinguishing Signals from Noise
Space isn’t silent—it’s alive with radio chatter. From our Sun’s booming broadcasts to distant black holes belting out jets of particles, the universe drips with natural “noise.” that can easily mask any deliberate signal we send or hope to detect. Any terrestrial signal must be distinguished from the overwhelming natural radio background of the cosmos. This background includes pervasive sources like the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which establishes a fundamental noise floor, and galactic background noise from synchrotron radiation. And are pulsars natural phenomena, mimicking certain characteristics of intelligent signals, or are they intelligent signals, misunderstood by humankinds igorance of the engineering capapilities of a Kardashev type III and IV ciilization? These questions pose a significant challenge for recognition.

9. Conclusion: The Reality of Interstellar Eavesdropping

The Hypothetical Tech Needed for Extraterrestrial Eavesdropping
For an extraterrestrial civilization to detect Earth’s radio technosignature from 10,000 light-years, it would require radio astronomy technology vastly superior to current human capabilities.

This would likely involve collecting areas orders of magnitude larger than our most powerful telescopes (potentially equivalent to tens of thousands of Arecibo-sized dishes), coupled with extremely low system temperatures (achieved through cryogenic cooling), wide bandwidths, and very long integration times to achieve the necessary signal-to-noise ratio.


The Real Odds: Why Earth’s Radio Shouts Are Mostly Whispers Across the Galaxy
In conclusion, while the theoretical detectability of Earth’s most powerful, directed radio emissions extends to galactic distances, the practical challenges of signal attenuation, interstellar distortion, and overwhelming cosmic noise mean that the vast majority of Earth’s radio footprint remains localized. The successful detection of Earth’s intelligent signal from 10,000 light-years would signify an extraordinary level of technological advancement on the part of the observing extraterrestrial civilization, far surpassing humanity’s current capabilities. This underscores the profound difficulty in interstellar communication and provides critical perspective for humanity’s ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Tired of Waiting for E.T. to Call?
It’s Time to Make the First Move.

Our civilization’s radio tech signature offers a stark revelation: waiting passively to be discovered is a strategy doomed by the physics of communication and the trajectory of technology. Our own history serves as a cosmic mirror, reflecting the likely silence of other advanced societies. The prospects of being detected by chance are remarkably slim; our most powerful, intentional messages have been mere momentary shouts aimed with laser-like precision at impossibly small targets. Simultaneously, our best chance for accidental discovery—the omnidirectional “radio bubble”…is rapidly fading as we become more efficient and, consequently, “radio quiet.”

Cosmic Mirror

If we accept this fleeting, whispering technological phase as typical, we must conclude that waiting for another civilization’s leaky signals is as futile as them waiting for ours. The Great Silence may not be a lack of life, but a universe of civilizations that, like us, have outgrown noisy, inefficient broadcasting.

This realization demands a shift in strategy. To stand any chance of being detected, or of detecting others, we must embrace Active METI (Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence). We cannot hope to find a needle in a cosmic haystack by chance; we must listen for the magnets. By understanding that we would need to build a powerful, sustained, and deliberate beacon to announce our presence, the cosmic mirror shows us precisely what we should be searching for. Committing to an active, intentional transmission is therefore not just an act of introduction; it is the most logical step toward refining our own search, transforming our understanding of our own limitations into the very tool needed to finally detect a kindred signal in the void.

This article presented new independent research on Earth’s historical radio signature in the cosmos, the total duration and strength of modern METI transmissions and -by comparison- the detectability of thermonuclear explosions by extraterrestrial civilizations.

Erich Habich-Traut

References used in this text:

  1. PDF: Earth’s Evolving Radio Footprint: A Megawatt Analysis of Anthropogenic Emissions in Outer Space (1900-2025)
  2. PDF: Major METI Transmissions
  3. PDF: TSAR Bomba Nuclear EMP detectability by Extraterrestrial Civilization
  4. PDF: Radio power comparison Tsar Bomba (1961) vs. Arecibo SETI Signal (1974)
  5. Article: Earth Detecting Earth: At What Distance Could Earth’s Constellation of Technosignatures Be Detected with Present-day Technology?
Posted on

Unexplained Starlight Pulses: Is Advanced Tech Operating Covertly in Our Cosmic Neighborhood?

For decades, humanity has peered into the vast darkness between the stars, dreaming of the moment we might detect a sign of intelligence beyond our own. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has long focused on distant radio whispers or powerful laser flashes, while intriguingly, starlight pulses might reveal clues right in our cosmic backyard. But what if the most profound evidence isn’t coming from light-years away? Could it be from our very own cosmic backyard? Recent, startling discoveries from a dedicated optical observatory in Big Bear, California, are forcing us to confront this very question.

In May 2023, retired NASA scientist Richard Stanton, working in Big Bear, California, discovered an unexplained “pulsing” signal from a Sun-like star, HD 89389, in the Ursa Major (Great Bear) constellation. This star is approximately 100 light-years away. The signal was described as two identical and fast pulses occurring 4.4 seconds apart. It was published in the Acta Astronautica scientific journal.

Stanton noted that these pulses were unlike any other signals he’d detected during his 1,500 hours of searching. The signal’s unique pattern has left scientists puzzled. This pattern, consisting of a “brighter-fainter-brighter” sequence, is intriguing to researchers.

“We don’t know what kind of object could produce these pulses or how far away it is. We don’t know if the two-pulse signal is produced by something passing between us and the star or if it is generated by something that modulates the star’s light without moving across the field. Until we learn more, we can’t even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved!“
– Richard Stanton

Stanton has unveiled a truly perplexing phenomenon: pairs of incredibly fast, identical pulses of starlight. Imagine a star’s brightness undergoing a sudden, dramatic dance. There’s a rapid surge, then a sharp dip, followed by an equally swift return to its original intensity.

This entire sequence unfolds in mere milliseconds. After a brief pause of a few seconds, the exact same intricate pattern repeats. This occurs with precision that defies natural explanation.

Cosmic Code: Unraveling the Twin Pulses

The first captivating instance came from the star HD89389. The near-perfect replication of the “fine-structure” within each pulse wasn’t just intriguing; it screamed of a deliberate, non-random event. Even more chillingly, a deep dive into historical data uncovered an identical pair of pulses from HD217014. This occurred four years prior. This earlier event had been casually dismissed as “birds” – an innocuous explanation that now seems inadequate for such a profound celestial signature.

Not Just Birds: A Galactic Mystery

The implications are staggering. The sheer speed of these light changes immediately tells us one crucial thing: the source cannot be the distant star itself. No known stellar process could cause such rapid, precise fluctuations. This realization narrows the field dramatically. It places the origin of these mysterious flashes much closer to home, likely within our own solar system.

Close Encounter? Tracing the Origin

So, if not the stars, then what? While natural phenomena like unusual atmospheric disturbances or even binary asteroid systems are considered, the precision and repeatable nature of these pulses push scientists towards a more audacious hypothesis. They suspect edge diffraction, a well-understood optical effect. It describes how light bends and creates distinct patterns when passing by a sharp edge. The specific “bipolar” shape of these observed pulses – the characteristic increase, decrease, and subsequent increase in brightness – bears an uncanny resemblance to diffraction patterns expected if starlight interacts with edges of a nearby, opaque object.

Diffraction’s Clue: The Shadow of Something Else

Think of it this way: a previously unknown object, possibly a thin, flat structure or even a ring, momentarily crosses our line of sight to a distant star. As the star’s light skims past one edge, it creates the first pulse. When it passes the other edge, the second identical pulse is generated.

Eyes Wide Open: The Hunt for Hidden Objects

This theory, while still under investigation, ignites a firestorm of possibilities. If these are indeed diffraction patterns, it implies an object’s existence, possibly within our solar system, that is causing these obscurations. What kind of object? And more importantly, who or what created it?

A single telescope, no matter how powerful, can only offer limited clues. It can detect these fascinating anomalies. However, it can’t definitively tell us the object’s precise distance, speed, or true nature. That’s where the future of this extraordinary search comes into play.

The urgent call from the scientific community is for the development of Optical Telescope Arrays (OTAs). Imagine a network of precisely synchronized telescopes, positioned across the Earth. By meticulously measuring the infinitesimal time delays as this object’s shadow sweeps across each individual telescope, scientists could triangulate its position with astonishing accuracy. This method would determine its velocity and perhaps resolve its physical characteristics. This would be a leap from passive observation to active, investigative astronomy.

Beyond the Stars: ETI in Our Backyard?

And here, at the precipice of this discovery, lies the most profound question. If these pulses are confirmed to be caused by an object in our solar system, and if its trajectory suggests it’s not a natural body – what then? Could it be a long-lost piece of cosmic debris or an anomalous natural formation? Or, the thought that sends shivers through us, could this be a sign of extraterrestrial intelligence? Perhaps the ultimate “SETI signal” isn’t a deliberate message beamed across the galaxy. Could it be the unavoidable, accidental, signature of advanced technology operating in our celestial neighborhood?

The Ultimate Question: Are We Witnessing Alien Tech?

The universe continues to surprise us, challenging our assumptions and pushing the boundaries of what we believe possible. These inexplicable starlight flashes are more than just an astronomical curiosity; indeed, they are a cosmic riddle. It could, just possibly, hold the key to answering humanity’s most enduring question: Are we truly alone? The echoes from the void are growing clearer. The potential for a paradigm-shifting discovery has never been more tangible.

Reference:

Unexplained starlight pulses found in optical SETI searches, Richard H. Stanton
Acta Astronautica, Volume 233, August 2025, Pages 302-314
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576525002449?via%3Dihub

Posted on

New UFO Study Examines Unusual Flight Characteristics in Navy’s 2015 Gimbal UAP Sighting

A study by Yannick Peings and Marik von Rennenkampff analyzes the Gimbal UAP video, a 34-second infrared clip recorded by a U.S. Navy F/A-18F jet in 2015. It shows an unidentified object (UAP) moving erratically—stopping, rotating mid-air, and reversing direction instantly—with no visible wings or exhaust.

Key Observations from Pilots:

  1. The object was close (within 6–10 nautical miles).
  2. It suddenly stopped and reversed course without a turning arc—a maneuver impossible for conventional aircraft.
  3. It was part of a group of 4–6 other unknown objects moving against strong winds.

What the Study Did:

Using data from the jet’s targeting system (ATFLIR) and radar, researchers reconstructed the flight path for the UAP and compared it to the pilots testimony.

At the distance reported by the pilots (6-8 nautical miles), the object’s movements matched eyewitness accounts:

  • It slowed down from ~300 knots to near-zero (high speed).
  • Then made a sharp “vertical U-turn” (unlike any known aircraft).
  • No wings or exhaust plumes (like a normal jet) were visible at this range during this maneuver.

Alternative Theory

Some argue the object might just be camera glare from a distant jet’s exhaust (30+ miles away) and that the “rotation” was a sensor glitch. But this doesn’t explain:

  • The pilots’ data showing instant direction changes.
  • Why the object matched the jet’s movements so closely.

Why Does This Matter?

The study doesn’t prove what the object was, but its movements defy normal aerodynamics. The researchers want aviation experts to take a closer look—because if this wasn’t a drone, jet, or camera trick, what was it?

If the object described in the text was indeed a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) in the sense of an extraterrestrial or unknown advanced craft, it would have significant implications.

What if it was a UFO?

  • It would mean a technology far beyond our own exists: The object pulled off “impossible maneuvers no known aircraft can do,” such as suddenly stopping mid-air, spinning 90 degrees, reversing course instantly, and making sharp, physics-defying U-turns without slowing down. It had “no wings, no exhaust, no explanation” for its propulsion. This would indicate a mastery of physics and engineering that currently eludes human understanding.
  • It would validate the pilots’ observations and radar data: The “fighter jets radar locked onto the UFO,” and a “new study crunched the numbers and found at that range the UFO’s movements match exactly what the pilots described.” This would confirm the reliability of these highly trained observers and sophisticated detection systems in identifying something truly anomalous.
  • It would challenge conventional explanations: Skeptics’ claims of “camera glare from a distant jet” would be insufficient to explain the radar evidence and the detailed pilot testimonies. The text explicitly states these explanations don’t hold up.
  • The burden of proof would indeed shift, as Michio Kaku suggests: If such an object is confirmed, it would no longer be on individuals to prove they saw something extraordinary. Instead, military and scientific institutions would face immense pressure to explain what these objects are, where they come from, and what their intentions might be. The question “what was it?” would become a central focus of investigation.

In essence, if it were a UFO, it would open up a new era of scientific inquiry, reshape our understanding of our place in the universe, and potentially have profound societal and technological impacts. The mystery surrounding these “mystery craft flying in formation” would move from the realm of speculation to urgent reality.

What is our place in the universe?

Bottom Line

The Gimbal UAP moves in ways that don’t match any known aircraft, making it a genuine mystery. The study doesn’t solve it but shows why more research is needed.

For the full math and visuals, see the original paper.

Based on: “Reconstruction of Potential Flight Paths for the January 2015 Gimbal UAP, by Yannick Peings and Marik von Rennenkampff”,

Reconstruction of Potential Flight Paths for the January 2015 Gimbal UAP

and the Newsweek article “The Truth About UFOs with Michio Kaku”:

The truth about UFOs with Michio Kaku
Aliens could theoretically “boil space and hop right through” in order to visit Earth from faraway stars.

Posted on

The Signal

A Science Fiction Short Story: In a universe filled with mysteries, the discovery of an extraterrestrial signal could change everything.

Chapter 1: The Question

Ray Faser leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, staring at the projection of Earth’s nuclear test history—a timeline of detonations stretching from 1945 to 1996. The data pulsed like a slow, irregular heartbeat.

Two thousand nuclear blasts. Each one had sent an electromagnetic scream (EMP) into the void.

On the other side of the screen, Dr. Elias Varen, a senior astrophysicist with the SETI Institute, adjusted his glasses.
“You’re suggesting we’ve already announced ourselves.”

Ray consulted a printout and smirked.

A thermonuclear bomb blast in 1961 emitted 10 billion times more radio waves than the Arecibo message. Click to view the calculations (PDF).

“I’m saying we lit a bonfire in the ‘Dark Forest‘. And now we’re whispering ‘Hello?’ like we’re afraid of being rude.”

Varen exhaled. “The difference is intent. A nuclear EMP is noise. A structured message is a handshake.”

Ray leaned forward. “You think an advanced civilization hears a thousand atomic explosions and thinks, ‘Hmm, must be background radiation’? They’ll know what it is. And they’ll know it’s dangerous.”

Chapter 2: The UAP Variable

The Pentagon’s recent disclosures hung between them like an unspoken specter. Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena—craft defying known physics, lingering in Earth’s skies for decades.

Ray tapped the table. “If they’re already here, silence isn’t caution. It’s stupidity. We should be sending ‘We come in peace’ in every frequency we’ve got.”

Varen’s jaw tightened. “Or we’re confirming we’re a threat. Nuclear weapons, uncontrolled emissions—what if they’re waiting to see if we grow up?”

“Or waiting to see if we shoot first,” Ray countered. The Dark Forest isn’t just a theory. It’s a mirror. We’re the ones who nuked ourselves two thousand times. We’re the predators.”

Chapter 3: The Silence Gambit

A new voice cut in—Dr. Elena Papadakis, a xenopsychologist. “Assume they have detected us. Silence could be read as hostility. A predator hiding.”

Varen shook his head. “Or prudence.”

Ray laughed bitterly. “Prudence? We’re ostriches. Heads in the sand, asses in the air.”

He pulled up the latest UAP footage—a tic-tac object maneuvering at Mach 10. “They aren’t hiding. Why are we?”

Chapter 4: The Decision

The room fell quiet. The screen flickered, overlaying Earth’s radio bubble—expanding at light speed for a century, a glowing sphere of TV broadcasts, radar pings, and nuclear EMPs that might just serve as an unintended extraterrestrial signal.

Elena broke the silence. “If they’re here, they already know who we are. The question isn’t if we signal. It’s what we say.”

Ray leaned back. “How about ‘We’re not all psychopaths’?”

Varen didn’t smile. “Or we prove it.”

Outside, the stars burned cold and distant. Waiting.

Epilogue: The First Message

Three months later, the Arecibo successor array sent a single, repeating sequence toward a UAP hotspot.

Not mathematics. Not science.

Music.
Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

A handshake—or a plea.

The Dark Forest listened.

——————-

Author’s note
The character of Ray Faser (and his author) have been waiting for reactivation ever since their first and last appearance in a short science-fiction story in a school newspaper in 1979.

Reference:
The history of nuclear testing began early on the morning of 16 July 1945 at a desert test site in Alamogordo, New Mexico when the United States exploded its first atomic bomb. In the five decades between that fateful day in 1945 and the opening for signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996, over 2,000 nuclear tests were carried out all over the world.
https://www.un.org/en/observances/end-nuclear-tests-day/history

Arecibo message power vs Tsar Bomba Calculation
(Nuclear bomb sent 10 billion times more radio waves into space than Arecibo.) (PDF) Arecibo message power vs Tsar Bomba Calculation

—————————-
#fypシ゚

Posted on

The WOW! Signal, Part 2: Math Suggests Origin from Unknown Source, Moving Towards Earth

Illustration (not a real photo)

Just the facts:
PDF: Doppler Blueshift Calculations for WOW! signal (1977): download here | Discussion on the paper: Academia.edu

Preamble

In 2022, I published The WOW! signal, Part 1: Not made by humans?.
For the longest time (3 years), I wondered why I left the possibility open for “Part 2” instead of just writing “The End.”

It’s now become clear that Part 2 is essential because it includes an important detail that was missing before: EQUATIONS!

Anyone can write anything, but without mathematical equations, it’s just prose. So, here, now, for anyone to check, are the steps required to verify the movement of the Wow! signal towards Earth at 10.526 km/s in 1977.

This truly represents a significant paradigm shift. Previously, the Wow! signal was just the most plausible and only candidate for a radio transmission of non-human extraterrestrial origin in space. Now it is shown that this signal was moving and en route to Earth.

Whatever this means (We Are Not Alone?), it is remarkable that the Doppler calculations on this signal have never been published before. Did the authorities believe it would cause a panic?

Introduction

The Wow! signal has been the strongest and only serious candidate for ETi radio communication for almost half a century. New calculations support that the Wow! signal may have originated from a moving source heading for Earth, adding to its significance in the search for extraterrestrial life.

The text describes the Wow! signal, a strong radio transmission detected by the Big Ear telescope on August 15, 1977, at a frequency of 1420.4556 MHz, which corresponds to a wavelength of 21.105373 cm. The signal’s expected frequency, based on hydrogen, is 1420405751.768 Hz, translating to a wavelength of 21.106114054160 cm. The Doppler shift calculations yield a speed of approximately 10,526 m/sec (37,893 km/h), suggesting that the signal originated from an object approaching Earth. Shown here are the steps to calculate the Doppler shift speed. For context, the average speed of asteroids is around 18–20 km/s, while comets that impact Earth typically travel at about 30 km/s. In comparison, the human-made Voyager spacecraft 1 and 2 are currently traveling at speeds of 15 to 17 km/s.

Speed comparison
The WOW! signal source appears to have approached Earth at 37,893 km/h. The entry speed of the Apollo capsules into the Earth’s atmosphere was 39,705 km/h.

Image NASA: example of atmospheric entry, showing the Mars Exploration Rover aeroshell (MER).

For a better understanding, I added the illustration of the Mars Exploration Rover’s entry into the Mars atmosphere. NASA did choose this shape for its aerodynamic properties. It is possible that the Wow! signal originated from a UFO about to enter Earth’s atmosphere, as much as any other interpretation.

In conclusion, the Wow! signal appears to have originated from an unknown type of source that was approaching Earth at a speed of 10.5 km/s, as indicated by observations and these calculations. It is unknown if this is due to the source’s approach to Earth or the galaxy’s relative movement to Earth. Both scenarios are possible.

Investigations of the Wow! signal to date have not accounted for or mentioned the Doppler blueshift of the signal.

Doppler Shift Calculations for Wow! signal (1977), Page 1
Doppler Shift Calculations for Wow! signal (1977), Page 2

References:

1: Doppler Shift Calculations for Wow! signal (1977)
https://www.academia.edu/126982728/The_Wow_Signal_Doppler_Shift_Equations

2: ”The tantalizing WOW! Signal” by John Kraus, 1977, Archives of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, https://www.nrao.edu/archives/files/original/2ec6ba346ab16e10a10d09462507beda.pdf

3. Not Made By Humans? Part 2 / The Wow! Signal: Evidence Suggests Origin from Unknown Object, Moving Towards Earth
https://www.academia.edu/126983022/Not_Made_By_Humans_Part_2_The_Wow_Signal_Evidence_Suggests_Origin_from_Unknown_Object_Moving_Towards_Earth

4. Original publication:
Not made by humans? | Part 1, February 5, 2022, Contact Project
https://contactproject.org/?p=779

5. Searching for Interstellar Communications
by Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison
https://web.archive.org/web/20110403061008/http://www.coseti.org/morris_0.htm

6. An approximation to determine the source of the WOW! Signal
Alberto Caballero
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2011.06090

7. Wow! signal, Wikipedia
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal

8. “Ballad of the ‘Wow!’ Signal”, Paul H. Shuch, SETI League
http://drseti.org/audio/wow.mp3

PDF: The Doppler Blueshift Calculations for WOW! signal (1977):
download here

Posted on

The Sagan Paradox, Chapter 1: The Golden Record

Introduction and Carl Sagan’s Early Work

Artwork inspired by Linda Salzman Sagan’s design for the Pioneer plaque, commissioned by NASA: click here view the original design

Carl Sagan (1934–1996) was an American astronomer, astrobiologist, and author. After NASA was founded in 1958, Sagan became a consultant for the agency. His first job involved planning the explosion of an atomic bomb on the moon, the A119 project. Highly controversial, to say the least. In 1961, at the age of 27, he published a study on the atmosphere of Venus. In 1970 he researched the conditions that could lead to the emergence of life in the cosmos on distant planets. To achieve this, he exposed frequently occurring elements to the UV radiation of a young sun and observed how amino acids, the building blocks of life, were formed from them. Carl Sagan became a full professor at the astronomy department at Cornell University. Around this time, talk shows began inviting him as a popular guest to discuss the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Reference: Carl Sagan, Long wavelength ultraviolet photoproduction of amino acids on the primitive Earth

“Hello, Aliens!”: Voyager Probes Get Sagan’s First Broadcast

In 1972 and 1977, Carl Sagan sent the first messages to extraterrestrials into space on the panels of the space probes Pioneer 10 & 11 and the Golden Record of Voyager 1 & 2.

The gold-plated aluminum cover (L) of the Voyager golden record (R) both protects it from micrometeorite bombardment and also provides a key to playing it and deciphering Earth’s location. NASA

It contains greetings and wishes for peace from the people of Earth in 55 languages. Earthlings extend their friendship, wish happiness and health, and express hope to one day meet their cosmic neighbors. They also express the desire for goodwill and harmony among all beings in the universe.

Reference: Golden Record Greetings – NASA Science
Each of the Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, carried a golden phonograph record. One of its purposes was to send a message to extraterrestrials who might find the spacecraft as it journeyed through interstellar space.

The greetings are in alphabetical order, from Akkadian (an extinct language for over 2000 years) to Wu Chinese. The inclusion of Akkadian in this earthly record is pretty strange. One day, these transmissions might be intercepted as they pass through space by an alien culture.

Voyager’s ‘Cosmic Map’ Of Earth’s Location Is Hopelessly Wrong

With the help of the included pulsar map, these aliens could potentially find Earth. Pulsars are stars that rhythmically emit radiation, like interstellar lighthouses. We can use them as a cosmic GPS.

Pulsar GPS: Sagan’s Star-Beacon Timecode Reveals 1971 Earth

Over long periods of time, the frequency of a pulsar slows down. Thus the pulsar map designed by scientist Frank Drake and graphic artist Linda Salzman Sagan is not only a determination of the position of our Earth in space, but the map also precisely pinpoints the position of Earth in time: 1971.

What if a prospective alien civilization has or develops the ability to time travel? What would they do with the information provided by our space probes?

Speculation about the subject makes for the greatest sci-fi story ever told. This is particularly true when we consider the included Mesopotamian-language greeting and the Annunaki creation myths—some of which have been popularized by Zecharia Sitchin and others.

Of course, intercepting our space probes is extremely unlikely. It could take millions of years, if at all. But then again, the life expectancy of the Golden Records is 5 billion years.

Aliens recovering the Golden Record
Posted on

The Sagan Paradox, Chapter 8: The Cosmic Gold Rush

CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM
For generations, the night sky was a canvas of glittering uncertainty. We gazed upon it, pondered our solitude, and whispered the profound question: Are we alone in the habitable universe? For decades, our answers were mere philosophical musings, tethered by limited data and a rather quaint, Earth-centric view of the cosmos. But that era is over. We stand at the precipice of a new understanding, a scientific awakening that paints a truly breathtaking picture of a universe teeming with possibility.

© A real photograph by astrophotographer Jheison Huerta, displayed with permission

Decoding Destiny: Sagan and the Drake Equation’s Dawn

Once, the Drake Equation – our grand cosmic census – was a theoretical construct, its variables educated guesses in the twilight of astronomical knowledge. Carl Sagan first met Drake and his famous Equation in 1961—it constitutes a framework to estimate the number of communicative civilizations in the Milky Way. Sagan, then a young graduate student, became a lifelong advocate for the equation’s optimistic interpretations.

Sagan’s Vision Meets Silicon: Certainty Replaces Cosmic Guesses

Based on the Drake equation, Sagan postulated between 1,000 and 1,000,000 communicative civilizations in the Milky Way. Carl Sagan, a visionary, frequently referenced the Drake Equation in his work and often used the original 1961 estimates, peering through the cosmic fog. (But also updated the numbers as new data emerged.) But today, the fog has lifted. The digital revolution, coupled with an explosion in space-faring technology, has ushered in a golden age of discovery, transforming those guesses into empirical certainties.

Exoplanet Explosion: Planets are Everywhere!

The Drake Equation, Copyright by https://sciencenotes.org

Consider the sheer scale. In 1992, the very first exoplanet was found. It was a singular pearl in a cosmic oyster. Now, less than three decades later, missions like Kepler and TESS have opened the floodgates! We’ve tallied nearly 6,000 confirmed worlds (Reference) orbiting distant stars – each a potential cosmic frontier. This staggering avalanche of data tells us something profound: planets are not a rarity; they are the rule. The fraction of stars with planets (fp​) is no longer a hopeful guess of 50%; it’s closer to 100%! Every star you see twinkling above likely harbors its own planetary system.

Cosmic Oases: Billions of Habitable Worlds Beckon

And within these systems, the number of potentially habitable worlds (ne​) is far from a mere statistical blip. Our own Milky Way galaxy alone, that majestic spiral of stars we call home, is now estimated to contain 300 to 500 million potentially habitable planets (Reference). Multiply that by the latest, mind-bending estimate of 2 trillion (or 2000 billion) galaxies (Reference) in the observable universe, and you’re looking at hundreds of billions of billions of cosmic oases!

A Sextillion Planets: Life’s Galactic Revolution

300 to 500 million potentially habitable planets multiplied by 2 trillion galaxies amounts to 600 billion billion to 1000 billion billion habitable planets. In other words, there are 600 qintillion to 1 sextillion potentially habitable planets in the cosmos.

This isn’t just an increase; it’s a galactic revolution in our baseline understanding of where life could arise.

Beyond Homeworlds: Rethinking Civilization’s Lifespan

But here’s where the possibilities truly explode – the “L” factor, the length of time a civilization releases detectable signals. Early calculations often assumed that civilizations were tied to their home world, vulnerable to asteroid impacts, climate change, or even self-destruction. This would lead to a tragically short “L,” perhaps a few thousand years. But for a truly advanced civilization, one that masters stellar energies, perhaps even galactic resources, simply staying put on one fragile world is a cosmic folly.

Cosmic Nomads: Galactic Colonization Extends ‘L’

Single Planet vs Multi System Civilizations

Frank Drake’s original formula makes no allowance for the ability of technological civilizations to colonize other planets or solar systems.

But as soon as another world is colonized, the chance of survival increases. Therefore far more older technical civilizations with space faring capability than Sagan originally assumed may exist.

A short critique of the Drake equation as commonly understood:

L – IS NOT simply the longevity of civilizations! Instead it’s the timespan that a civilization releases simple detectable signals. Earth itself has released easily detectable radio and TV signals for only 40 to 60 years before switching to spread spectrum digital communication, satellite, cable and internet. The signals that Earth is still leaking into space are random and repeating pings and blips from powerful radar, and unintelligible signals from digital sources that blend into the cosmic background noise (CMB).

A civilization with space-faring capability, even one moving at a fraction of light speed, could colonize its entire galaxy in a mere 5 to 50 million years. In the cosmic timescale of billions of years, this is but the blink of an eye!

Blink Of An Eye

Colonization acts as a cosmic insurance policy, diversifying risk and extending the effective “lifetime” of a civilization from millennia to millions, even billions of years. This utterly transforms the “N” in the Drake Equation, suggesting a universe far more populated with ancient, thriving civilizations than we dared to dream. We’re talking about the emergence of Kardashev Type I, Type II, Type III and even Type IV civilizations – those that harness the power of their planet, their star, their galaxy or even the entire universe!

The Great Cosmic Silence: Unraveling the Fermi Paradox

Of course, the cosmic riddle persists: The Fermi Paradox. If the universe is so abundant with life, where is everybody? The silence, the eerie quiet of the cosmos, has led to theories like the “Great Filter” – a bottleneck that prevents life from reaching advanced stages, either in our past (making us incredibly rare) or, more ominously, in our future (a catastrophic universal speed bump). Or perhaps the “Rare Earth Hypothesis,” suggesting our planet’s specific conditions for complex life are extraordinarily unique.

Echoes of Advanced Life? Or a Cosmic Sanctuary Awaits?

But even these daunting questions now inspire a different kind of optimism. Perhaps the “Great Filter” lies behind us, making our existence all the more triumphant. Perhaps extraterrestrial civilizations are so vastly more advanced (Type III-IV) that their communications are simply beyond our current comprehension, a cosmic symphony we lack the instruments to hear.

And maybe the answer to the Fermi paradox is another: THE SANCTUARY HYPOTHESIS- coming soon.

The Sanctuary Hypothesis

The Quest Continues: A Universe Primed for Discovery

The search for ETI is no longer a fringe endeavor; it is a fundamental “market research” initiative into the ultimate cosmic landscape. The data is overwhelmingly in favor of abundance. The universe is a grand laboratory, a vast stage for the emergence of life and intelligence. And as we continue to unlock its secrets, each new discovery amplifies the profound conviction that we are not alone. The grandest adventure of all is just beginning.

“Billions and Billions”: The Catchphrase That Captured the Cosmos

One Sagan: The iconic catchphrase, “billions and billions,” was popularized by comedian Johnny Carson, who hosted The Tonight Show. Carson frequently did affectionate parodies of Sagan, mimicking his voice and intellectual demeanor, and in these skits, he would often quip, “billions and billions!”

This parody was so pervasive and well-loved that it became the phrase most people associated with Sagan, even though he didn’t originally say it that way. Sagan himself acknowledged this humorous invention by Carson and even titled his final book, published posthumously in 1997, Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium, playfully embracing the phrase that had become his popular legacy.
Carl Sagan (Cosmos) Parody by Johnny Carson (1980)

Million to Billion convertor

Posted on

The WOW! signal, Part 1: Not made by humans?

Dawn at Big Ear, Ohio State University, http://bigear.org

At a quarter past ten in the evening on August 15, 1977
a once-in-a-lifetime event took place in Delaware: a signal known as the Wow! signal arrived.

A very strong signal arrived at the “Big Ear” radio telescope. It had all the characteristics of having come from an extraterrestrial intelligent source.

The OSU Big Ear radio observatory was aligned in North/South direction. The parabolic reflector is in the South.

No one was at the telescope at the time. The receiver and telescope computer were doing their jobs all by themselves. Therefore, the signal was actually first detected by a machine, a twelve-year-old computer.

BITS OF INFORMATION
The IBM 1130 had first been built in 1965. It looked and felt like an old battleship. It had only 1 megabyte of memory. For that reason, the only record of the radio signal is a 6-digit printout on endless paper. There’s no audio recording of the signal. Today we would have a complete audio recording of it, measuring megabytes, if not gigabytes. But in those days, just six characters on paper had to suffice as a record.

After a few days, the stack of computer printouts from the Selectric printer was bundled by Big Ear technician Gene Mikesell and brought to Jerry Ehman’s home.

Press to stop printing. An IBM 1130 printer, this was the type used at the Big Ear radio-telescope in 1977.

THE ANALYSIS
Jerry Ehman was a SETI volunteer with Ohio State University. Together with Bob Dixon, he had written the software for the Big Ear computer in FORTRAN and assembler.

Around the 19th of August, Jerry began analyzing the printouts from the radio telescope at his home, looking for unusual radio signatures.

A few pages into the pile of paper, he saw a peculiar sequence of numbers and characters.

He was astonished. After highlighting in red pen the six characters “6EQUJ5,” Jerry wrote the notation “Wow!” in the left margin of the computer printout opposite them.

The Wow! signal printout

The characters and numbers denoted a powerful narrow-band transmission. Apparently it had come from outer space. Narrowband transmissions usually don’t occur naturally and are a sign of artificial origin.

Conventionally speaking, all artificial things are made by humans. That’s because human language, and the Cambridge Dictionary, defines “artificial” as “made by humans.” That definition may have to be revised.

OPTIMUM CHANNEL
The Wow! transmission had all the hallmarks of a radio signal from a non-human extraterrestrial civilization. In the 1959 article “Searching for Interstellar Communications,” Giuseppe Cocconi and Philip Morrison explained that using the 21 cm hydrogen frequency was a logical choice for SETI.

And that was precisely the frequency of the Wow! signal. It had come from the direction in the sky where the constellation Sagittarius is found. 

The Big Ear radio and computer shack.

If we transfer the number codes from the Wow! printout to plotting paper, we can see the waxing and waning strength of the 1420 MHz radio beam that reached the radio telescope. Each of the letters and numbers corresponds to a certain signal intensity, as the next graph illustrates.

The signal may have been transmitting for centuries and was never detected because no one looked for it before. The signal source did not move in the sky. The only thing that moved over for 72 seconds was the Earth, rotating majestically from East to West as the radio receiver moved in and out of the signal beam.

And then the signal vanished. Gone. The signal would have been picked up again by the second horn antenna of Big Ear. But it was no longer there.

The rise and fall of the signal we see in the graph above was due to the antenna pattern; the signal itself remained at constant strength.

The graph below shows a similar signal pattern in “OV-221,” an X-Ray radio source to the right of the Wow! signal on this graph.

In this broadband continuum record the Wow! signal does not show up because it is too narrow-band.

After Jerry Ehman showed the computer printout of the Wow! signal to John Kraus and Bob Dixon, they immediately talked about it, speculating and making hypotheses. Quickly, John and Bob began to investigate the various possibilities.

Dr. John Kraus was a physicist and the designer of the Big Ear radio telescope. He actually invented several types of radio antennas.

Bob Dixon was the director of SETI at the Ohio State University radio telescope.

Together they excluded the possibility of the signal having been a plane, planet, asteroid, comet, satellite, spacecraft, ground-based transmitter, or any other known natural source.

Now, since the Wow! signal appeared to be unnatural and no known human cause for it could be found, it was suspected that it could have come from a technological alien civilization.

It was decided to go back to the region in space where the signal had come to see if it could be found again. The scientific method calls for the reproducibility of any experiment or result.

Weeks turned to months, and years into decades, as astronomers from all over the world searched the region in space where the Wow! signal had been detected.

The Wow! signal was never found again.

Calculations on the space region of the Wow! signal

Image by The Planetary Society, license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

The Wow! signal was observed for 72 seconds. In this time a region of space equivalent to 18 arcminutes was scanned, according to the following calculations:

24h x 60 min = 1440 mins/day = 86400 sec
360° / 86400 = 0.0041° per second
72 seconds = 0.3°

An arcminute (denoted by the symbol ‘), is an angular measurement equal to 1/60 of a degree or 60 arcseconds. To convert a degree measurement to a minute of arc measurement, we multiply the angle by the conversion ratio.

The angle in minutes of arc is equal to the degrees multiplied by 60:
0.3 x 60 = 18 arcminutes.

As seen from the Earth, the Sun and Moon both have angular diameters of about 30 arcminutes. The full moon’s average apparent size is about 31 arcminutes (or 0.52°).

In other words, the Wow! signal spanned an area of about half the size of the Sun or the Moon, as seen from Earth in the sky. That is a rather large area in astronomy.

On the basis of this simple calculation, I cannot readily agree that the Wow! signal came from a pointlike source. That may or may not be a problem. It can be resolved by agreeing that the resolution of the Big Ear radio telescope was not any better!

The frequency and speed of the Wow! signal source

It’s assumed that aliens that use the hydrogen frequency do so in a manner to compensate for the motion of their planet with respect to the motion of Earth. Otherwise, the precise frequency of the hydrogen becomes higher or lower.

That’s why it’s important to look at the precise frequency of the signal.

John Kraus, the director of the observatory, gave a frequency value of 1420.3556 MHz in his 1994 summary written for Carl Sagan.

Jerry Ehman in 1998 gave a value of 1420.4556±0.005 MHz. 

This is (50±5 kHz) above the hydrogen line value of 1420.4058 MHz.

Only one of those frequencies could be the correct one. The explanation of the difference between Ehman’s and Kraus’s values was that a new oscillator had been ordered for the frequency of 1450.4056 MHz.

The university’s purchasing department then made a typographical error in the order and wrote 1450.5056 MHz instead of 1450.4056 MHz. The software used in the experiment was then written to adjust for this error. When Ehman computed the frequency of the Wow! signal, he took this error into account.


After all errors are accounted for, the Doppler shift of 1420.4556 MHz indicates that the Wow! signal source moved at a speed of 37,893 km/h towards Earth. The following calculations show how I arrived at that speed:

Calculations on the Doppler shift of the Wow! signal

The Wow! signal was detected at 1420.4556 MHz. First we need to convert the frequency to the wavelength. The wavelength is given by the frequency and the speed of light, how far one wave crest travels in a given time span.

Frequency to wavelength calculator:
https://www.everythingrf.com/rf-calculators/frequency-to-wavelength

The frequency of the Wow! signal 1420.4556 MHz is equal to a wavelength of (Δλ) 21.105373 cm. That’s the distance between each wave crest.

The presumed origin signal of hydrogen has a precise frequency of 1420405751.768 Hz, equivalent to the wavelength of (λ) 21.106114054160 cm. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_line

The Doppler shift speed from delta lambda and lambda = 299 781 932.02409 m/sec. https://www.vcalc.com/wiki/sspickle/speed+from+delta+lambda+and+lambda

Now we subtract
299 781 932.02409 m/sec
[Doppler shifted Wow! signal speed from v = (Δλ/λ) * c]
-299 792 458 m/sec [ speed of light (c)]
______________________

10 526 m/sec = 37 893 km/h or 10.526 km/sec.

Ref. 1: The source of the Wow! signal approached Earth at a speed of 37 893 km/h or 23 545 mph, if the transmission frequency was from hydrogen.

The average speed of asteroids is 18-20 km/s vs. the 10.52 km/s from the Wow! signal. Comets that impact Earth usually are also faster, at 30 km/s.

End of part 1.

Now read The WOW! Signal, Part 2:
Evidence Suggests Origin from Unknown Object, Moving Towards Earth

Follow this story and more on

https://contactproject.org
A proposal to make radio contact with UAPs/UFOs

←Previous | Next→

Posted on

The Wow! Signal: A Cosmic Riddle Solved by Mathematics?

Can a mathematical equation be considered evidence that the source of the Wow! signal approached Earth (and was of extraterrestrial origin)?

This discussion is about the paper “The Wow! Signal Doppler Shift Equations“:

The Wow! Signal Doppler Shift Equations
The Wow! signal has been the strongest and only serious candidate for ETi radio communication for almost half a century. New calculations support that the Wow! signal may have originated from a moving source heading for Earth, adding to its

Mathematical equations can be considered evidence, but the context in which they are used is crucial. This is particularly evident when we examine events like the Wow! Signal, where data interpretation plays a significant role.

In the case of the Wow! signal, which was a strong narrowband radio signal detected by the Big Ear radio telescope in 1977, considering a mathematical equation as evidence requires careful consideration. It is important to consider the context and underlying assumptions.

Context of the Wow! Signal

Observational Nature: The Wow! signal was a one-time event that has not been observed again since its detection. This raises questions about reproducibility and the reliability of the interpretation of the signal.

Doppler Effect: The Doppler equation suggests blueshift (indicating that the signal source was approaching Earth). This is based on the principles of the Doppler effect. The Doppler effect describes how the frequency of emitted waves changes depending on the relative motion of the source and the observer. If a source is moving toward the observer, the waves are compressed, leading to a higher frequency (blueshift).

Mathematical Equation as Evidence

(Daguerreotype of Christian Andreas Doppler, 1803-1853)

In this instance, the mathematical equations associated with the Doppler effect can serve as supportive evidence.

This is possible if the following conditions are met:

Interpretation of the Signal: The mathematical model using the Doppler effect must be appropriately applied to the observed frequency of the Wow! signal. If the frequency of the signal is higher than what would be expected if the source were stationary, this shift can indeed be calculated. Then, using the Doppler equation, it provides a logical framework supporting the hypothesis that the source is moving towards Earth.

Consistency with Observations: For the equation to be considered evidence, it must be consistent with other data. We need to consider the characteristics of the signal (frequency, duration, etc.) and any additional analysis. For example, the lack of nearby astronomical sources that could explain the signal.

Limitations and Alternatives: While the Doppler equation suggests that the source was approaching, it is crucial to acknowledge the limitations of this interpretation. The single observation leaves room for alternative explanations. For example, it could have been interference or another cosmic phenomenon.

But we need to acknowledge that terrestrial interference or cosmic phenomena have long ago been ruled out by Dick Arnold, Bob Dixon, Jerry Ehman Ed Teiga and John Kraus.

Conclusion

The application of the Doppler equation supports the idea that the Wow! signal source was approaching Earth.

The Wow! Signal equation serves as evidence for a hypothesis, rather than serving as conclusive proof. The scientific method requires ruling out other explanations. Obtaining corroborating evidence through multiple observations or analyses is necessary before drawing definitive conclusions.

“There is no evidence that can’t be contradicted either by fact or lies.”

Erich Habich-Traut

In human discourse, where perception and persuasion play roles, that statement reflects a pragmatic reality: evidence is often subject to challenge, whether valid or not.

What type of evidence is logically or empirically unassailable?

Call for Action

Okay, we are looking for corroborating evidence for the hypothesis that Earth is being visited by extraterrestrial spacecraft, and has been for some time. We are looking for multiple observations as corroborating evidence. Does anyone have “corroborating evidence”?

(There are literally hundreds of thousands of reported unexplained sightings. Here is just a small number, two of which are mine. This explains my interest in this subject.)

Exhibit A: the Calvine UFO

What really happened in Calvine? The mystery behind the best UFO picture ever seen
In August 1990, two hikers sent photos of a strange diamond-shaped aircraft to the press – but the story never appeared. Was it a prank, a hoax, an optical illusion or something else entirely?

Exhibit B: the Puerto Rico UFO

50-Year-Old “Best Photograph Of A UFO Ever Taken” Goes Viral
The photo was taken by Sergio Loaiza in September, 1971, as he flew over Costa Rica on a mission to survey land for the construction of a hydroelectric project.

Exhibit C: the Salthill Sighting, my own sighting, 1986, Mufon #11680

THE SALTHILL UFO
THE SALTHILL UFO SIGHTING, GALWAY, 22nd February – 1st of March 1986

Exhibit D: the M6 sighting, my own sighting, 1995, Mufon #82139

My “lost” UFO sighting
Why I’m coming forward now During April 2020 I had a lot of time on my hands. It was the first Corona lockdown in Germany. I decided to sort through old 35 mm negatives in an old drawer in our basement. The drawer serves as a storage box. As I was pulling the film strips … Continue reading “My “lost” UFO sighting”

Exhibit E: the Pentagon UFO (UAP) videos

Pentagon officially releases UFO videos | CNN Politics
The Pentagon has officially released three short videos showing “unidentified aerial phenomena” that had previously been released by a private company.