The Ancient Alien Question Read Online Free PDF Page B

found in DNA, the formula for DNA, a DNA helix, and much more information about life on planet Earth. In 1977, Sagan created the Voyager Golden Records, containing 116 images detailing life on Earth and methods of finding us, just in case something intelligent were to stumble upon the little probe.
In the five decades of humankind’s space exploration, we have sent a small number of these and similar messages into the universe, some riding with our interplanetary probes, others specifically broadcast via radio to distant galaxies where we hope someone is listening. At the same time, we have used our telescopes to listen to anyone out there who might be broadcasting—so far, without any success. In fact, some scientists believe that an extraterrestrial intelligence is unlikely to use radio waves to communicate their presence because radio signals have to compete with background noise and require a selection of radio frequencies, thus reducing the chances of being discovered.
Instead, it is thought by some, including American physicist Paul LaViolette, that beacons, sometimes referred to as “galactic lighthouses,” would be built, announcing to anyone in the galaxy that they are not alone. John Learned of the University of Hawaii has proposed using the Cepheid variable stars (the brightest of the “variable” category of stars, which change luminosity through time) as a beacon, arguing that by manipulating their pulsation cycles, much like Morse code, the stars could be used to broadcast a message to the universe that would be far more likely to be received by alien civilizations. He has outlined a theoretical model as to how this could be accomplished, and though we currently lack the resources and some of the technology to accomplish this, future generations might advance as far—extraterrestrial civilizations might have advanced as far a long time ago.
The idea of galactic lighthouses was originally proposed by Thomas Gold in June 1968, but has been most popularlypromoted in the last decade by Paul LaViolette. His book, The Talk of the Galaxy: An ET Message For Us? , argues that some of the pulsars that we have discovered have actually been modified by an extraterrestrial intelligence, and that our radio telescopes are therefore picking up an extraterrestrial message; we just refuse to accept it.
The idea that pulsars could be created by an extraterrestrial intelligence received widespread attention in 1974 with the discovery of PSR 1053+29. Its extraterrestrial origin was proposed because of its strangely constant pulsation rate. The pulsar also betrayed no sign of spinning down, which meant it was not behaving as “normal pulsars” did. Alas, observations of this specific pulsar throughout the following years showed that it was in fact slowing down, though at such a slow rate that it still begs the question of whether it might be an extraterrestrial signal. Since then, more than a dozen other such pulsars have been identified, and scientists continue to question whether these are indeed galactic lighthouses, though most scientists believe that, no matter how weird, we are confronted with a totally natural phenomenon.
The best candidate for a galactic lighthouse is PSR 1937+21, one of the fastest pulsars in the sky, flashing 642 times per second, with a very constant pulsation period. In fact, the beacon surpasses the best atomic clocks in its precision. The so-called Millisecond Pulsar is also unique in that it is one of two pulsars known to emit giant pulses, becoming the brightest pulsar in the sky and therefore making it easily identifiable. After all, we have identified it, and the only question we have is whether its period is artificially created or natural, with the usual division between the two camps.
LaViolette, in The Talk of the Galaxy , states that, “If extraterrestrial civilizations are attempting to communicate with us and are distinguishing their transmissions by doing ‘something that can’t