August 15th 2007 heralded the 30th Anniversary of the ‘WoW’ signal when astronomer Jerry Ehman was looking over a printout of radio data from Ohio State University’s Big Ear Radio Observatory when he saw a string of code so remarkable that he had to circle it and scribble “Wow!” in the margin. The mystery code “6EQUJ5″ is an anomalous radio signal and extraterrestrial transmission that was detected in 1977 at the Big Ear Radio telescope, now defunct, as it swept the heavens on August 15th 1977 - the signal was so strong that it was said to have originated from an extraordinary source.
The power of the 6EQUJ5 signal strength nearly broke the encoded recording system of Big Ear Radio Observatory, which was especially designed to break down code signals by receiving potentially strong signals through more than one channel. The received signal was at least 30 standard deviations beyond normal—for a period of 12 seconds per character. The total of 72 seconds for the total code is what almost broke the Big Ear Radio Observatory channels.
Astronomers tried to track down a terrestrial cause after the single radio burst was detected but could find no glitch in the system, and no source that could have explained the strength and the frequency of the seconds-long signal. No-one could figure out whether the signal was a burst of human-made interference or an alien broadcast from the stars; since then, the source of the “Wow” signal has never been detected heard from again - even though astronomers have looked for it countless times. Since then, the “Wow” signal 6EQUJ5 has symbolized as one of the central enigmas for alien-hunters and even inspired a scene in “The X-Files” TV film series.
According to one unidentified person who refers to Seth Ehman as “my buddy”, “The ‘Wow’ signal is the best evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence,” .
Ehman said aliens were not the first thing that came to his mind when he saw the Big Ear data in 1977 and wrote his famous word.
“The ‘Wow’ was just an instantaneous response in writing,” he said. “I had no expectations, other than ‘here’s something extremely interesting - and gee, let’s try to find out what it is, or what it isn’t.’”
Today, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute is preparing up to look for the signal once again, using the latest tool for seeking signals from extraterrestrial civilizations: the Allen Telescope Array in California. A senior Astronomer at the SETI Insitute, Seth Shostak, told Alan Boyle at the Cosmic Log of MSNBC that:
“Once the Allen Telescope Array is up and running, and that should be later this year, there’s going to be a small project in which we’ll look at the same section where the ‘Wow’ signal was detected, and of course the same spot on the radio dial,”.
In the 29 years since Ehman scribbled “WOW!” on his signal log, subsequent investigations have characterized the transmission as a tantalizingly inconclusive piece of scientific evidence.
According to Geek Trivia, who ackowledges that the code remains a shining example of geek trivia and “a stand-alone light in the alien-hunting darkness” … “if an alien intelligence was trying to contact us, its signal would almost certainly have to be an “always on” transmission—or, at the very least, occur at regular, predictable intervals so researchers could find it again. The WOW! signal—so far as we know—doesn’t qualify.”
Your comments are welcome on the topic.
- Read the full MSNBC report by Alan Boyle of Cosmic Log here
- Big Ear’s Breakdown Report of the 6EQUJ5 signal
- Geek Trivia’s humorous column on the 6EQUJ5 and the Alien ‘Evaders’
- Wikipedia’s ‘WoW’ Signal page
Buy this photographic print of El Caracol, Mayan Observatory