Many years ago, there was a movie called The UFO Incident starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons. They portrayed Barney and Betty Hill who claimed to be abducted by ET and friends. To make a long story short, under hypnosis, Betty Hill reproduced the star chart the alien captain showed her and with the help of Ohio State University computers (back in the 60's!!!), the stars were identified or named Zeta Reticulae I and II....37 light years from earth or 217.4 trillion miles. And, supposedly, the captain said that earth was a regular run!!!

My question is have any radio telescopes that SETI uses have ever been pointed to that position in the sky??? If this incident was credible, and it supposedly was according to the psychiatrist that examined the Hills, shouldn't someone be looking in that area of the sky?? And, since this is my first post, I apologize if I put it in the wrong area. Ok....lemme know if someone has the answer. Thanks.

Bob

If the ETIs are already here then there is no need for SETI, right? We might as well point our dishes at our own planet listening for signals. Most people interested in SETI don't believe in UFOs or abductions. Most abductions are just sleep paralysis. Scary, but nothing alien about it. The Hill story is interesting though, as fiction. It could be made into a kind of creepy short film. I don't see anything particularly plausible about the story. And the selection of Zeta Reticuli itself is a HUGE stretch.

Nevertheless Zeta Reticuli is an interesting system. As a G class binary with a separation of 3750 AUs it seems like a good candidate for life and it's only 39 light years away. I don't believe that story, but I just put it on my candidate list anyway.

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I just started a new SETI forum: setiforums.org

If the ETIs are already here then there is no need for SETI, right? We might as well point our dishes at our own planet listening for signals. Most people interested in SETI don't believe in UFOs or abductions. Most abductions are just sleep paralysis. Scary, but nothing alien about it. The Hill story is interesting though, as fiction. It could be made into a kind of creepy short film. I don't see anything particularly plausible about the story. And the selection of Zeta Reticuli itself is a HUGE stretch.

Nevertheless Zeta Reticuli is an interesting system. As a G class binary with a separation of 3750 AUs it seems like a good candidate for life and it's only 39 light years away. I don't believe that story, but I just put it on my candidate list anyway.

Your statement "most people interested in SETI don't beleive in UFO's or abductions",what do you base that assumption on. Have you surveyed the majority of the "crunchers" here? Most abductions are just sleep paralysis? What do you base that on, personal research?
Lastly, your statement that Zets Reticuli would be a HUGE stretch,why? Any data to back that up? I am not trying to be difficult, but I would like to hear the reasoning behind your statements

Respectfully

Tom H.

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Your statement "most people interested in SETI don't beleive in UFO's or abductions",what do you base that assumption on. Have you surveyed the majority of the "crunchers" here?

Let's be careful on what we're reading here. I would agree that most people who are interested in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (not just SETI@Home, but all SETI projects) do not believe in Alien UFOs or Alien Abductions. Sure, you have your crackpot few that come on the boards and spew their unfounded, unsubstantiated, unverified claims and try to pass them off as facts, but that's simply a vocal minority.

Most abductions are just sleep paralysis? What do you base that on, personal research?

To be fair, a claim of sleep paralysis isn't the only claim after an investigation. There's also outright false claims (crop circles), pranks, drugs, dreaming, psychosis, and numerous other findings.

Sleep paralysis is usually attributed to people who claim they cannot move in their own bed and "feel" a demonic presence around them, preventing them from moving. In every study of this type, they have found that the inhibiting factor is actually the same chemical that is released from our brains to put our bodies to rest for sleeping. Sometimes this chemical doesn't wear off before the sleeper wakes up, giving the feeling of paralysis and the inability to control one's own body movement.

On what basis are decisions made to scan a particular area of the sky for intelligent signals? Even with the best of equipment we have, there has to be a guideline for searching so as to not waste time with less likely star systems. Futhermore, the best of our equipment becomes obsolete within a few years of use, like the computers we use for SETI @ Home. MY HP is 6 years old and I've already tried to get some support from HP and was told to buy a newer computer.

Ok, I don't want to get off-track here so my question remains: what are the guidelines for scanning a particular section of the sky?? Oh yes, and so far, has any user's computer at home ever found a signal of interest to this point?? I am simply curious. Thank you and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!


Bob

On what basis are decisions made to scan a particular area of the sky for intelligent signals? Even with the best of equipment we have, there has to be a guideline for searching so as to not waste time with less likely star systems. Futhermore, the best of our equipment becomes obsolete within a few years of use, like the computers we use for SETI @ Home. MY HP is 6 years old and I've already tried to get some support from HP and was told to buy a newer computer.

Ok, I don't want to get off-track here so my question remains: what are the guidelines for scanning a particular section of the sky?? Oh yes, and so far, has any user's computer at home ever found a signal of interest to this point?? I am simply curious. Thank you and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!


Bob

To answer you directly, for Seti@Home, the area searched is anywhere the Arecibo antenna can point. As to interesting items, some years back in the Classic days they took a list of the 100 most interesting possibles and went looking at those places specifically but found nothing.

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On what basis are decisions made to scan a particular area of the sky for intelligent signals?

The primary source of data for SETI@Home comes from the Arecibo Observatory, which is run by SRI International, Universities Space Research Association, and the Universidad Metropolitana. The operators have a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF) through which scientists who wish to use it must submit grants and proposals that are evaluated by an independent board. SETI@Home has worked out a deal with the operators of the dish to allow them to scan while others use the dish for their operations - sort of "piggy backing" on others' run time. This afford's SETI@Home the ability to record data from several portions of the sky without having to choose a specific location for their data collecting phase. In other words, SETI@Home doesn't actually "choose" what portions of the sky to record (though they could certainly tell the operators not to record during a particular run).

The dish has a collecting area of about 790,000 sq. ft. (73,000 sq. metres). I don't recall the exact estimates, but I seem to recall that the dish covers about 33% of the northern hemisphere.

Having explained all that, to answer your question directly, SETI@Home collects the results from our computers and keeps tabs on the most interesting results. One of the Project Administrators can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think only one or two re-observations have actually been performed on the strongest signals, with no further discoveries coming from the same coordinates.

Oh yes, and so far, has any user's computer at home ever found a signal of interest to this point??

Hundreds, if not thousands of interesting signals have been found. So far none of those signals have held up to scientific inquiry after the fact.

Your statement "most people interested in SETI don't beleive in UFO's or abductions",what do you base that assumption on. Have you surveyed the majority of the "crunchers" here?

The assumption is based nothing but a general sense and the presumption that SETI supporters are at least somewhat rational/logical. If I believed that aliens were already visiting us I would consider SETI to be an expensive waste of time. Rather it would be better to focus our efforts on finding the elusive critters wherever they may be hiding, like a duck trying to identify the duck blind.

Most abductions are just sleep paralysis? What do you base that on, personal research?

http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/waking_up_to_sleep_paralysis/
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/06/science/alien-abduction-science-calls-it-sleep-paralysis.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llSHVF1myLQ

Obviously the Hill story is an exception. I'm not claiming that they were suffering from sleep paralysis. Presumably the Hills weren't asleep at the time of their 'experience'. In their case, it's more a matter of extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I like their story as fiction, but I'm not actually gullible enough to believe it. I suspect it is just a hoax that they have made up for their own reasons.

Lastly, your statement that Zets Reticuli would be a HUGE stretch,why? Any data to back that up? I am not trying to be difficult, but I would like to hear the reasoning behind your statements

I'm not referring to the plausibility of Zeta Reticuli as a candidate. I actually think it's an excellent candidate. As I said, I've added it to my own candidate list. I'm referring to it's identification as something special in the Hill story. I read a story of the account that goes into the reasoning behind the selection of Zeta Reticuli as being the home of the aliens and I'm left unimpressed. I can't decide if it's sad or funny.

One more point about Zeta Reticulum. At -62.5 degrees declination it is even further south than Alpha Centauri. That puts it way out of range of any northern hemisphere searches. And most searches have been in the northern hemisphere. I would have to assume that any targeted southern hemisphere searches would have examined it because there aren't many G class stars within 50 light years. And this system has two of them, separated by enough distance that it might be twice as likely for a rocky planet to have formed in the goldilocks zone.

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I just started a new SETI forum: setiforums.org

...One more point about Zeta Reticulum. At -62.5 degrees declination it is even further south than Alpha Centauri. That puts it way out of range of any northern hemisphere searches. And most searches have been in the northern hemisphere. I would have to assume that any targeted southern hemisphere searches would have examined it because there aren't many G class stars within 50 light years...

Hi..., Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
metiman, I am sure, that SETI@home is already working in this direction... Namely, scanning in other parts of the sky... including, in the Southern Hemisphere! In addition to the Arecibo used the Green Bank Telescope (West Virginia), allowing us to listen in on parts of the sky that, up until now, we have not been able to reach.
In a letter SETI@home (October 2011) written, quote:"Green Bank Telescope In the last year, SETI@home has made great steps forward... Earlier this year we were able to use the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to expand our search to include the nearly 100 potentially habitable planets found by the Kepler Mission. We've also re-observed seventy two of the 102 sources of unidentified radio pulses found with our Astropulse search. We hope to observe the remaining sources soon. While it's likely that these pulses are a natural phenomenon, we don't yet know what we will find. Data from both these projects have arrived or are on their way to Berkeley and will be sent to our volunteers in the coming months... As you may know, the data that your computer analyzes comes principally from the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. While Arecibo is an immensely powerful telescope, it cannot see the entire sky. In the past we have been able to perform short duration observations at the Green Bank Telescope. But in the coming year, we plan to start continuous collection of data at the Green Bank Telescope, allowing us to listen in on parts of the sky that, up until now, we have not been able to reach... Sincerely, Dr. Eric Korpela, Project Scientist"
In December 2011, I got a few tasks, where the declination "-" (minus). This means, that was selected direction for objects Southern Hemisphere... also in the graph the screensaver, the inscription information "Recorded at: Aresibo" - was absent or "Recorded at: Unknown"...
Therefore, for the project SETI@home - a new interesting future!

...One more point about Zeta Reticulum. At -62.5 degrees declination it is even further south than Alpha Centauri. That puts it way out of range of any northern hemisphere searches. And most searches have been in the northern hemisphere. I would have to assume that any targeted southern hemisphere searches would have examined it because there aren't many G class stars within 50 light years...

Hi..., Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
metiman, I am sure, that SETI@home is already working in this direction... Namely, scanning in other parts of the sky... including, in the Southern Hemisphere! In addition to the Arecibo used the Green Bank Telescope (West Virginia), allowing us to listen in on parts of the sky that, up until now, we have not been able to reach.
In a letter SETI@home (October 2011) written, quote:"Green Bank Telescope In the last year, SETI@home has made great steps forward... Earlier this year we were able to use the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to expand our search to include the nearly 100 potentially habitable planets found by the Kepler Mission. We've also re-observed seventy two of the 102 sources of unidentified radio pulses found with our Astropulse search. We hope to observe the remaining sources soon. While it's likely that these pulses are a natural phenomenon, we don't yet know what we will find. Data from both these projects have arrived or are on their way to Berkeley and will be sent to our volunteers in the coming months... As you may know, the data that your computer analyzes comes principally from the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. While Arecibo is an immensely powerful telescope, it cannot see the entire sky. In the past we have been able to perform short duration observations at the Green Bank Telescope. But in the coming year, we plan to start continuous collection of data at the Green Bank Telescope, allowing us to listen in on parts of the sky that, up until now, we have not been able to reach... Sincerely, Dr. Eric Korpela, Project Scientist"
In December 2011, I got a few tasks, where the declination "-" (minus). This means, that was selected direction for objects Southern Hemisphere... also in the graph the screensaver, the inscription information "Recorded at: Aresibo" - was absent or "Recorded at: Unknown"...
Therefore, for the project SETI@home - a new interesting future!

So, is it only Astropulse that will contain Green Bank data?

Regards,

A

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So, is it only Astropulse that will contain Green Bank data?
Regards,
A

I think, that not only Astropulse. All types of applications...,maybe! The declination "-"(minus) and inscription information "Recorded at:Unknown", I have seen in my SETI@home Enhanced v6.03 ! In addition, the project SETI@Home and Green Bank Telescope (together) - will take part in the searching: "The new search will target 86 exoplanet candidates uncovered by the Kepler Mission...", quote http://seti.berkeley.edu/seti_at_the_gbt

Best regards, Alex

Green Bank can't see down to -62.5. You've gotta have a steerable dish below the equator for that. Even at the equator you're talking 63 degrees below your zenith. Parkes could see it though and they've probably already listened to it at the hydrogen line. Of course the Zeta Ret aliens may be transmitting at 10 Ghz or 77 Ghz or even 140 Ghz.

If the Hill story were true then I'd say they don't want to be found. They certainly wouldn't be aiming kilometer dishes with Terawatts of power when they can just fly over here whenever they want and practice their anal probing skills. What is it with aliens and their probes, huh?

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I just started a new SETI forum: setiforums.org

Maybe the anal probes were/are to retrieve the microchips they imbedded previously. :)

That only explains the double anal probes 8)

If our alleged visitors are from Zeta Reticulae I and II, they stopped using radio as a communication medium eons ago.

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*** Those who know, don't speak,
those who speak, don't know ***

[quote]they stopped using radio as a communication medium eons ago.

If there was another form of communication I'm sure our scientists by
now would have an inkling as to what is might be. As far as I'm aware
no such alternative form of communication has been contemplated as of
yet. So to me it looks like radio wave communications are here with us
for another 100 years or more at least. My feelings are that we will be
well in advance, of any communication methods, with our ability to travel the
universe at immense speeds. The speed of travel being well in advance of that
of the speed we could communicate at. If this was the case then if we could
package the communication data in a similar way we package the spaceman in his
space ship we could then have equally fast communications too.

It's amazing the insight one gets when eating a boiled egg at breakfast time?...
...along with bread soldiers of course.

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The Kite Fliers

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Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

If there was another form of communication I'm sure our scientists by now would have an inkling as to what is might be.

Weren't they considering pulsed laser beams at one point? The problem was one of divergence if I recall, where aiming a laser at the moon would end up with the beams being dozens of feet wide at the end with corresponding lack of power.

My eggie intuition leads me to postulate a means of communication vastly
faster than that of the speed of light. That or a wave that performs
differently to that of any standard light wave or electromagnetic wave
hence can cut corners?......big corners ??

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

Depends Chris. If the telepathy is being sent by a politician, ... cud b awhile.

New method transfer information in space: this is a interplanetary stations with information blocks.
But only for the Solar system and not with extraterrestrial civilizations in Universe... :)
Link http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/43944

Made your link clickable.

Solar Wind

Thank you, Chris S !