The search for extraterrestrial intelligence can be traced back to a curious experiment that took place almost 100 years ago. Its originator was American astronomer David Todd, who wanted to listen to radio signals from Mars in August 1924.
the New York Times According to his report, Mars fever was still raging among scientists at the time, as the red planet was considered the best candidate for intelligent aliens. That year, researchers had a unique opportunity, as the planet was briefly at its closest point to Earth, just 62 million kilometers away. But to take advantage of this, Todd needed some help.
We've already been looking for life on Mars for 100 years.
Clarification. Featured Image: Upload images.com
He recruited inventor Charles Francis Jenkins, who had helped develop the first televisions, to join him. Jenkins’ job was to operate the lab’s radio, which transmitted data from incoming signals to a device that printed the radio waves on paper, Futurism reported. However, Todd had another big request. He wanted the world’s radio stations to remain silent so that his balloon antenna could clearly hear the signals coming from Mars. It wasn’t entirely successful, but the U.S. Navy was generous enough to issue a nationwide radio silence order. All Todd asked for was for the airwaves to be free for five minutes at the top of every hour for three days between August 21 and 24.
His attempt was crowned with success. When radio silence spread across the country, Todd and Jenkins picked up an interesting signal. They say that the radio waves printed on the paper resembled a crudely drawn face, causing such a storm in the country that everyone thought there were little green people living on the red planet. But no one had any idea where the signal actually came from. Jenkins himself stated that “we can't explain this oddity in any way.”
Did the signal really come from Mars? No one knew, and Jenkins was afraid of being seen as a fool, so he concluded that the signal had nothing to do with Mars. As mysterious as it was, the fact that the origin of the signal was unclear only meant that it was not the expected aliens.
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