In a vast universe, containing billions of galaxies, scientists are convinced that other civilizations must exist outside our solar system. But despite our relentless search, we have not seen them yet. The closest humans have come to signs of extraterrestrial life was on August 15, 1977, when a strange signal from the constellation Sagittarius was received by the big ear radio telescope at Ohio State University.
The signal, known as the “WOW! signal”, reached an intensity up to 30 times higher than the usual signals and had a duration of 72 seconds. Despite its origin still being uncertain to this day, the signal has characteristics that suggest possible intelligence behind it. Of course, scientists were not able at the radio observatory to actually definitely prove that the signal came from an extraterrestrial civilization. On the other hand, no scientists or engineer has been able to prove that it isn’t.
Forty-five years later, however, NASA detected a strange anomaly late 2020, coming from a nearby solar system located in the constellation Proxima Centauri that could be far more significant than the WOW! signal.
Scientists were baffled to see what appeared to be artificial lights coming from one of the system’s planets, Proxima B. And they are getting ready to send a message in that direction.
The strange anomaly is still being analyzed to ensure it isn’t just a naturally occurring event, and scientists hope to use the James Webb Space Telescope, to look directly at Proxima B to see if a technological signature from another civilization is detected on the planet.
Can this anomaly be an indication of intelligent life on the planet? Is there a civilization next door?
As noted by File 51, “the Milky Way galaxy, where we live in, might have around 100 billion stars, among them, our Sun. And given the fact that there are more planets than stars, scientists believe that there could be billions of planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone, that could support life as we know it.
The odds that at least one of these billions of planets has produced intelligent life, seem favorable enough to spend some time figuring out how to contact them. And NASA is preparing to do just that.
NASA is reportedly planning to send a new message into space, hoping to communicate with other lifeforms, if there are any out there.
The message will include illustrations depicting the human body, male and female. The hope is to familiarize aliens with the way humans look, to make them feel more comfortable with us.
The hope is to familiarize aliens with the way humans look, to make them feel more comfortable with us.
NASA will also send images of math problems, DNA structures, and a few other images detailing how to reach us, with an invitation to respond. The message will also include a map of the Solar System, indicating where the Earth is found, relative to our host star and the other planets, along with a digitized map of Earth.
The message will also include a map of the Solar System, indicating where the Earth is found, relative to our host star and the other planets, along with a digitized map of Earth. This would provide aliens with the necessary information to make contact with us, either by sending a follow-on transmission to Earth; or if their technology is sufficiently advanced, by sending a physical vehicle to Earth at some point in the future.
If intelligent beings exist there, what will their reaction be if they receive our message? And most importantly, Do we really want them to find us?
Watch the short documentary from File 51 below:
