Hunt For Space Aliens By Radio Signals

File: UFO238

BERKELEY - A SEARCH FOR ALIENS IN OUTER SPACE HAS DETECTED 164 MYSTERIOUS RADIO SIGNALS THAT MUST BE STUDIED TO LEARN IF THEY COME FROM NATURAL CAUSES OR FROM E.T. TRYING TO PHONE EARTH, SCIENTISTS SAID TUESDAY. AT THIS POINT, WE HAVE NO CONCRETE EVIDENCE FRO SIGNALS FROM INTELLIGENT ALIENS. WE HAVE SOME POSSIBILITIES WE'RE GOING TO INVESTIGATE FURTHER, SAID STUART BOWYER, THE HEAD OF THE SEARCH AND AN ASTRONOMER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY. DETECTION OF THE 164 UNEXPLAINED RADIO SIGNALS SINCE THE LATEST, MOST SOPHISTICATED PHASE OF THE $400,000 SEARCH STARTED 14 MONTHS AGO WAS ANNOUNCED DURING THE AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY'S NATIONAL MEETING. IF ONE OF THESE CANDIDATE SIGNALS IS REALLY A SIGNAL FROM AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL CIVILIZATION, IT'S LIKELY WE WILL BE ABLE TO CONFIRM IT WITHIN A YEAR, SAID DAN WERTHIMER. BUT IT'S VERY UNLIKELY THAT ANY OF THESE CANDIDATES ARE REALLY FROM EXTRATERRESTRIALS. IT'S MUCH MORE LIKELY THAT THEY ARE HUMAN MADE INTERFERENCE OR NATURAL NOISE SOURCES. SINCE THE 1960s DOZENS OF SEARCHES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED FRO RADIO SIGNALS LEAKING INTO SPACE FROMBROADCASTS OR RADAR USED BY ANY ADVANCED SOCIETIES THAT MIGHT EXIST ON DISTANT WORLDS. BOWYER AND WERTHIMER SAID THE UC BERKELEY SEARCH, WHICH USES A 1,000 FOOT WIDE RADIO TELESCOPE ANTENNA DISH IN PUERTO RICO, IS MORE POWERFUL AND SENSITIVE THAN ANY OTHER SEARCH SO FAR, ANALYZING 30 TRILLION SIGNALS IN THE LAST 14 MONTHS ALONE. A $100 MILLION, 10 YEAR SEARCH BY THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION EVENTUALLY WILL BE MORE POWERFUL ONCE IT IS RUNNING FULL TIME AND WITH MORE ADVANCED EQUIPMENT. THAT SEARCH STARTED LAST COLUMBUS DAY, USING ANTENNAS IN PUERTO RICO AND CALIFORNIA. SEVERAL OTHER SEARCHES FOR RADIO SIGNALS FROM INTELLIGENT ALIEN SOCIETIES ALSO HAVE DETECTED RADIO SIGNALS THAT COULDN'T IMMEDIATELY EXPLAINED. BUT ALL OF THEM EITHER WERE NEVER HEARD AGAIN OR WERE FOUND TO BE CAUSED BY NATURAL OR HUMAN SOURCES. EARLY PHASES OF BERKELEY'S SEARCH, WHICH BEGAN IN 1980 WITH PARTIAL FUNDING FROM NASA, FOUND ABOUT 130 MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS BUT ALL EVENTUALLY WERE ATTRIBUTED TO NATURAL OR MANMADE CAUSES, WERTHIMER SAID. WERTHIMER SAID SOME OF THE YET UNEXPLAINED SIGNALS HAVE COME FROM THE SAME LOCATIONS IN THE SKY A MONTH OR MORE AFTER THEY WERE FIRST DETECTED. OUR MOST INTERESTING CANDIDATES ARE SIGNALS THAT ARE STILL THERE WHEN THE TELESCOPE COMES BACK TO A PARTICULAR SPOT, HE SAID. THAT FINDING IS VERY INTERESTING BECAUSE A RADIO SIGNAL THAT APPEARS FIXED OVER TIME HAS TO BE FROM BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, ALTHOUGH IT COULD BE CREATED NATURALLY, SAID EDWARD OLSEN, A SCIENTIST WORKING ON NASA's SEARCH AT JET PROPULSION LABORATORY IN PASADENA. BUT WERTHIMER SAID SOME SUCH SIGNALS MAY COME FROM WITHIN THE SOLAR SYSTEM, GENERATED BY TWO SOURCES THAT APPEAR IN THE SAME PART OF THE SKY. UC BERKELEY'S STATEMENT SAID OTHER SIGNALS NEEDING MORE STUDY INCLUDE DRIFTING SIGNALS THAT COULD BE COMING FROM A SPINNING PLANET, AND SIGNALS THAT RISE IN INTENSITY AS THE TELESCOPE MOVES TOWARD A POINT, THEN FALL AS THE TELESCOPE MOVES AWAY, MATCHING A PATTERN EXPECTED FROM A STATIONARY SIGNAL IN THE SKY. WERTHIMER SAID HE WAS WORRIED THAT SOME PEOPLE MIGHT INTERPRET THE 164 MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS AS EVIDENCE FOR EXTRATERRESTRIALS WHEN IT'S DOUBTFUL ANY OF OUR CANDIDATES WILL TURN OUT TO BE EXTRATERRESTRIALS. THEN WHY DID UC BERKELEY ISSUE A NEWS RELEASE AND SCHEDULE A NEWS CONFERENCE ON THE DISCOVERY? IT'S GOOD TO LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT WE ARE CAPABLE OF ATTEMPTING CONTACT, HE SAID.