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While I was putting this book together, I came across an article in the newspaper that indicates that the scientists may be attempting to look in the right direction by searching the microwave spectrum: outer space, but one expert doubts humans will be smart enough to understand the messages even if they [re Lo hear them. The project, when finished, will search for alien signals through the end of the century,Jill Tarter ofthe University of California, Berkeley, said at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science. grand exploration of the microwave system, looking for evidence of an artificially generated signal. Our civili- zation, for the very first time, can contemplate under- taking, out of pure curiosity, a search that may not bear fruitful results for many generations,’ she said. "Tarter said the extraterrestrial search is in the program. "The program, financed by the National Aeronau- tics and Space Administration, will eavesdrop on micro- wave radiation that reaches earth from space. "Machines and 1 computers will listen for microwave -- bee tha Le patterns that nature never produces but that humans, with their crude technology, often do. The program will break the microwave spectrum into 10 million or 100 million channels and search them systematically." (The articleappearedin aMay 29, 1986 newspaper.) P: They really have nothing to say. The people on Earth would export very little of use to those who are on the other planets. _ The Energy Director 51 P: New to this planet, yes. "MASSIVE EFFORTBEING PLANNED TO SCAN FOR LIFEIN OUTER SPACE. 'The most ambitious and sophisticated effort ever Fe a nT is being planned to scan the heavens for signals from wee 2 Lee Ae nee eee AL Lee ee OL 'These are the first initial steps of what will be a Be a ee ee Tee oe third year of a five-year research and development D: Iknow the scientists aremost anxious to communicate.