# Possible Alien Radio Signal Detected! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 2, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768 "2004-09-02T14:21:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hambil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3be4f8/32.png) [@Hambil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hambil)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/1 "2004-09-02T14:21:41Z")
This does not appear to be a hoax. [link](http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/09/02/space.signals.reut/index.html) > [@](#): > > An unexplained radio signal from deep space could – just might be – contact from an alien civilization, New Scientist magazine reported on Thursday. > > The signal, coming from a point between the Pisces and Aries constellations, has been picked up three times by a telescope in Puerto Rico. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/2 "2004-09-02T14:24:20Z")
Maybe not. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3621608.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3621608.stm) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/3 "2004-09-02T14:24:38Z")
Fascinating. Or it could be a coincidence. Probability suggests the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/4 "2004-09-02T15:04:20Z")
Here’s the [New Scientist](http://www.newscientist.com/news/nographic.jsp?id=ns99996341) article if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/5 "2004-09-02T16:32:35Z")
Well don’t just sit there, boys. Invite 'em to come on down and stay a spell (and remind them to bring Moon Pie). Read the article, find it lacking. Are these folks analyzing the signal for some sign of modulation? If it isn’t modulated, then it isn’t a communication signal (about the only message one can send with an unmodulated carrier is “Hey, there’s an untended transmitter operating on this frequency”). Otherwise, its more likely we’re hearing a bunch of hydrogen atoms scratching their butts or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/6 "2004-09-02T16:44:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Well don’t just sit there, boys. Invite 'em to come on down and stay a spell (and remind them to bring Moon Pie). …and Mars bars. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/7 "2004-09-02T16:44:44Z")
I remember reading a quote from some Air Force General when asked what to do if we did hear signals. He said “Hang up. Look what happened to the Indians.” ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/8 "2004-09-02T16:51:09Z")
Nothing to see here, folks. Keep your eyes on Martian CH4, instead. Much more promising candidate; if not for ETI, at least a simple form of ET. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/9 "2004-09-07T20:13:04Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > …and Mars bars. Seems this thread is going off in a Milky- uh, CHEESY Way! * * * True Blue Jack ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/10 "2004-09-07T22:24:04Z")
[Reports of SETI@home Extraterrestrial Signal Highly Exaggerated](http://planetary.org/news/2004/seti_signal_0902.html). This is from the website of _The Planetary Society_, which operates Seti@home. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/11 "2004-09-08T11:18:09Z")
Where’s my foil hat when I need it? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/12 "2004-09-09T15:53:46Z")
“Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.” Carl Sagan in “Pale Blue Dot” [Pale Blue Dot](http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/pale_blue_dot.html) ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possible-alien-radio-signal-detected/262768/13 "2004-09-09T16:18:10Z")
Which is almost applicable, yet isn’t.