One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue.

When one works in a museum, sometimes it isn't just the artefacts which pique the curiosity of a lively mind, but sometimes the visitors themselves.

I found this sheet of paper in our Earth and Space exhibit, resting on a case of meteorites. As someone with a keen interest in the search for extraterrestrial life, I immediately recognised what it was: the 'Wow! Signal.

On August 15th 1977, a SETI researcher named Jerry Ehman was working at the 'Big Ear' - a radio telescope belonging to the Ohio State University based in Delaware, Ohio. For 72 seconds from a direction near to the galactic centre in the constellation of Sagittarius, this strong narrowband signal was recorded by Ehman's apparatus, closely matching the criteria for an interstellar signal to such an extent he wrote 'Wow!' on the computer printout.

Despite repeated searches, the signal was never repeated, a signal close to the 1420MHz frequency which researchers reason that alien civilisations would use because Hydrogen atoms naturally emit radiation at this frequency - a radio 'hiss' that pervades the entire cosmos.

In studying this photocopied enigma, I realised that my finding it was analogous to finding that 37-year old mystery: here, in my hand, was a message from out there by persons unknown, wanting to draw attention to something reckoned to be of importance. To quote astronomer Carl Sagan:

"All my life, I've wondered about life beyond the earth. On those countless other planets that we think circle other suns, is there also life? Might the beings of other worlds resemble us, or would they be astonishingly different? What would they be made of? In the vast Milky Way galaxy, how common is what we call life? The nature of life on earth and the quest for life elsewhere are the two sides of the same question: the search for who we are."

As to the message of the paper - it's origin and purpose, still a total mystery.