macleod@drivax.UUCP (MacLeod) (03/28/89)
(This posting was downloaded from Paranet Alpha)
#: 173737 S10/Paranormal Issues
19-Mar-89 21:29:00
Sb: DISCOVERY/UFO?
Fm: Bert 71450,3504
To: ALL
I just received a rather remarkable phone call from Bob Oechsler, MUFON
investigator from Annapolis, MD, who also has his own nationally broadcast UFO
radio talk show. Bob asked me to upload the following information.
On Tuesday March 14, 1989 at 6:42 am the following message was received by a
UFO investigator in Baltimore through WA3NAN (Goddard) amateur radio
transission from the orbiter Discovery. "Houston, this is Discovery. We
still have the alien space craft, uhh, under observance." The transmission
was picked up on a Radio Shack scanner tuned to 147.45 mhz.
According to Bob, he and his colleagues have found that the transmission
matches up with NASA tapes except that there is a "blank space" in the tape
where the above transmission occurred. (Possibly bleached out?) They are
currently doing voice print analyis in an effort to match the specific voice
with one of the astronauts. They will compare to voices of all of the
astronauts recorded during the Today Show interview. They should know "for
sure" in about a week.
Bob would very much appreciate it if anyone who may be able to corroborate
this transmission would call him at 301-798-1503. About 15 minutes prior to
the transmission there was a broadcast about "a fire on board". There is
speculation that this may have been a code to switch frequencies or to stop
feed to the public domain. He would this also like to hear if anyone can
corroborate anything about a "fire."ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) (03/29/89)
In article <4440@drivax.UUCP> macleod@drivax.UUCP (MacLeod) writes: > >On Tuesday March 14, 1989 at 6:42 am the following message was received by a >UFO investigator in Baltimore through WA3NAN (Goddard) amateur radio >transission from the orbiter Discovery. "Houston, this is Discovery. We >still have the alien space craft, uhh, under observance." The transmission >was picked up on a Radio Shack scanner tuned to 147.45 mhz. > This is patently ridiculous, thinking that this is actually an alien spacecraft sighting. Most likely, this was either a bit of humor, or the 'alien' spacecraft is 'alien' only in the sense that it was not made in the US (most likely Soviet). First of all, if there really was an alien craft, and the crew wanted to say something to Houston about it and wanted to keep it secret, they would *not* broadcast over an open, unencrypted channel that every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a $99.95 scanner could pick up. More likely, if an alien ship did appear near the shuttle, the crew would turn around and head for home, under orders from the ground, since they're not equipped for alien contact. Finally, any *real* aliens would make contact with government officials, and we can assume that this didn't happen, since at last check, Bush was at some elementary school, talking about U.S. drug policy.
nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson) (03/30/89)
In article <7751@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes:
This is patently ridiculous, thinking that this is actually an
alien spacecraft sighting. Most likely, this was either a bit of
humor, or the 'alien' spacecraft is 'alien' only in the sense that
it was not made in the US (most likely Soviet).
That's a guess that is totally unsubstantiated by the [skimpy] facts.
First of all, if there really was an alien craft, and the crew
wanted to say something to Houston about it and wanted to keep it
secret, they would *not* broadcast over an open, unencrypted
channel that every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a $99.95 scanner could
pick up.
Accidents *do* happen.
More likely, if an alien ship did appear near the shuttle, the crew
would turn around and head for home, under orders from the ground,
since they're not equipped for alien contact. Finally, any *real*
aliens would make contact with government officials, and we can
assume that this didn't happen, since at last check, Bush was at
some elementary school, talking about U.S. drug policy.
More guesses. How do you know that? I counter your skepticism with my
skepticism.
I think that a piece of hard evidence could be found if several people
can be found who heard the report of the "fire" and the "alien craft"
transmissions, AND they are missing from official NASA recordings.
If that's the case, then it lends substance to Stanford T. Friedman's
accusations of a government coverup.
--
--russ (nelson@clutx [.bitnet | .clarkson.edu])
If you can, help others. If you can't, | Leftoid and proud of it
at least don't hurt others--the Dalai Lama |jsp@key.COM (James Preston) (03/30/89)
In article <4440@drivax.UUCP> macleod@drivax.UUCP (MacLeod) writes: }On Tuesday March 14, 1989 at 6:42 am the following message was received by a }UFO investigator in Baltimore through WA3NAN (Goddard) amateur radio }transission from the orbiter Discovery. "Houston, this is Discovery. We }still have the alien space craft, uhh, under observance." The transmission }was picked up on a Radio Shack scanner tuned to 147.45 mhz. Can you say, "April fool"? --James Preston
sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink) (03/30/89)
In article <7751@pyr.gatech.EDU>, ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes (much other stuff removed): > any *real* aliens would make contact with government officials, and we can > assume that this didn't happen, since at last check, Bush was at some elementary > school, talking about U.S. drug policy. Ah, but who said they would want to contact the US government! :-> ("Wellcome, Comrad Alien") -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "PENTAGON OFFICIALS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT | Stuart Warmink, Whippany, NJ, USA AN ANTIMATTER SHORTAGE" ("WHAT'S NEW") | sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (att!cbnewsl!sw) -----------> My opinions are not necessarily those of my employer <-----------
neal@lynx.uucp (Neal Woodall) (03/30/89)
In article <7751@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.UUCP (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes: >More likely, if an alien ship >did appear near the shuttle, the crew would turn around and head for home, under >orders from the ground, since they're not equipped for alien contact. I thought this whole thing was some kind of early April Fool's joke, but now this! What do you mean "not equipped for alien contact." (maybe you have been reading too much science fiction) I didn't know that our government or space program even had any "rules" for alien contact, much less that they have special "equipped for alien contact" shuttles! >Finally, *real* aliens would make contact with government officials Don't you think that they would seek out some more intelligent examples of our species? >and we can assume that this didn't happen, since at last check, Bush was at >some elementary school, talking about U.S. drug policy. Like I said, why not some more intelligent examples of our species (or maybe they communicate by reading lips! :-)? Cheers, Neal
ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) (03/30/89)
In article <NELSON.89Mar29145346@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>, nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson) writes: > In article <7751@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes: > > This is patently ridiculous, thinking that this is actually an > alien spacecraft sighting. Most likely, this was either a bit of > humor, or the 'alien' spacecraft is 'alien' only in the sense that > it was not made in the US (most likely Soviet). > > How do you know that? I counter your skepticism with my > skepticism. > > I think that a piece of hard evidence could be found if several people > can be found who heard the report of the "fire" and the "alien craft" > transmissions, AND they are missing from official NASA recordings. > If that's the case, then it lends substance to Stanford T. Friedman's > accusations of a government coverup. > -- I will admit, the evidence for my conclusion is as skimpy as the evidence for the UFO theory, but let's be realistic. Astronauts have been seeing 'UFO's' since the dawn of the space age, and the vast majority, if not all, have been sightings of expended booster segments, ejected garbage, and frozen urine. Each time, the UFO crowd came running, and each time there was a very reasonableexplanation for the phenomenon. Each time, the UFO crowd then claimed that there was a massive coverup. Well, it's been a quarter of a century now since these sightings from sapce have started, and I find it difficult to believe that an event of such magnitude as contact with alien life or alien technology could be kept secret. When alien life *does* contact us (and I am of the opinion that we are not alone in the universe, although I am not on the edge of my seat, waiting for them to come along), it will hit us like a ton of bricks. Two tons of bricks. A very possible explanation of this occurrence comes to mind: since the frequency of the alleged transmission is in the middle of the commercial radio band, it is possible that someone with a radio set to that frequency broadcast the two items to see what happened, knowing that someone might be listening. A pretty good joke, if you ask me. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Matthew DeLuca : Georgia Institute of Technology : Remember, wherever you go, there you are. ARPA: ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.edu :
ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) (03/30/89)
In article <355@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink) writes: > >Ah, but who said they would want to contact the US government! :-> >("Wellcome, Comrad Alien") >-- Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in the U.S. than anywhere else on Earth. Compared to the U.S., the Soviet Union is third-rate, at best. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Matthew DeLuca : Georgia Institute of Technology : Remember, wherever you go, there you are. ARPA: ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.edu :
ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) (03/30/89)
In article <5373@lynx.UUCP> neal@lynx.UUCP (Neal Woodall) writes: >this! What do you mean "not equipped for alien contact." (maybe you have been >reading too much science fiction) I didn't know that our government or space >program even had any "rules" for alien contact, much less that they have >special "equipped for alien contact" shuttles! >Don't you think that they would seek out some more intelligent examples of our >species? > What I mean by 'not equipped for alien contact' is just that. What do aliens breathe? Are they radioactive? Do they have microbes that could cause disease in humans? What do they eat? Before you let aliens in the shuttle with you, you had better know these things, or at least be prepared to deal with them, or you're asking for real trouble. You'd want a quarantine area, for starters, most likely special atmospheric requirements for the aliens, and some idea of how to speak with them. It's even possible that the psychological shock of meeting alien life forms could be too much for some people; you'd want very stable types on a meeting team. I'm not saying that the U.S. has any kind of policy regarding aliens from space (we can barely deal with aliens from Nicaragua :-) ), but I would think that some minimal preparation is necessary. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Matthew DeLuca : Georgia Institute of Technology : Remember, wherever you go, there you are. ARPA: ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.edu :
ken@nsc.nsc.com (Ken Trant) (03/31/89)
article <7751@pyr.gatech.EDU>, ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) says:
% Xref: nsc sci.space:10486 rec.ham-radio:1579 talk.rumors:907 misc.headlines:11954
% In article <4440@drivax.UUCP> macleod@drivax.UUCP (MacLeod) writes:
%%On Tuesday March 14, 1989 at 6:42 am the following message was received by a
%%UFO investigator in Baltimore through WA3NAN (Goddard) amateur radio
%%transission from the orbiter Discovery. "Houston, this is Discovery. We
%%still have the alien space craft, uhh, under observance." The transmission
%%was picked up on a Radio Shack scanner tuned to 147.45 mhz.
%%
% This is patently ridiculous, thinking that this is actually an alien spacecraft
% sighting. Most likely, this was either a bit of humor, or the 'alien'
% spacecraft is 'alien' only in the sense that it was not made in the US (most
% likely Soviet). First of all, if there really was an alien craft, and the crew
% wanted to say something to Houston about it and wanted to keep it secret, they
% would *not* broadcast over an open, unencrypted channel that every Tom, Dick,
% and Harry with a $99.95 scanner could pick up. More likely, if an alien ship
I think the poster suggested that the "fire on board" statement might have been
prearranged code to switch to another channel. Not to unlikely.
% did appear near the shuttle, the crew would turn around and head for home, under
% orders from the ground, since they're not equipped for alien contact. Finally,
what equipment would you take to an alien encounter?. How are the astronauts
not equipt to handle an encounter with aliens?.
% any *real* aliens would make contact with government officials, and we can
% assume that this didn't happen, since at last check, Bush was at some elementary
% school, talking about U.S. drug policy.
We should have talked to you for the best information on alien encounters
since you apparently know exactly what is needed, who the aliens would talk
to. BTW which govt have the ET's decided to contact when the get here?.
Maybe they are democrates and are waiting to talk to the Congress?. :-)
--
PATH= Second star to the right, {...Ken Trant...}
and straight on till morning
National SemiConductor, 1135 Kern Ave. M/S 7C-266; Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Uucp: ...{pyramid,sun,amdahl,apple}!nsc!kennemesis@kludge.eecs.umich.edu (Ron Oliver) (03/31/89)
It seems quite possible that there was a "UFO" sighting. Literally. Unidentified Flying Object, that is. Not necessarily a space craft from an alien nation. Think about it--if you were up there, and casually discussing it with Mission Control, you could very well say that you're discussing the "alien spacecraft". Astronauts have a sense of humor, too (at least a couple of 'em :-). If this single transmission is all you've got to go on, I wouldn't start packing your bags yet. Hobbes: "What will we do when they come?" Calvin: "See if we can sell Mom and Dad into slavery for a star cruiser." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ron Oliver --- nemesis@dip.eecs.umich.edu --- uunet!umix!dip!nemesis
neal@lynx.uucp (Neal Woodall) (03/31/89)
In article <7767@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.UUCP (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes: >Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on >Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in the U.S. than anywhere else on >Earth. Compared to the U.S., the Soviet Union is third-rate, at best. And don't forget that the US probably puts out more RF energy than any other nation on the earth, which is a sure sign of a scientifically advanced culture (even if most of it is soap operas and cartoons!). Neal
neal@lynx.uucp (Neal Woodall) (03/31/89)
In article <7769@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.UUCP (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes: >In article <5373@lynx.UUCP> neal@lynx.UUCP (Neal Woodall) writes: >>What do you mean "not equipped for alien contact." (maybe you have been >>reading too much science fiction) I didn't know that our government or space >>program even had any "rules" for alien contact, much less that they have >>special "equipped for alien contact" shuttles! >What I mean by 'not equipped for alien contact' is just that. What do aliens >breathe? Are they radioactive? Do they have microbes that could cause disease >in humans? What do they eat? Before you let aliens in the shuttle with you, >you had better know these things, or at least be prepared to deal with them, >or you're asking for real trouble. Who said anything about letting them into the shuttle? It seems to me that if you were to establish communications with the hypothetical aliens, then this is "contact". Since we don't know what kind of communication the aliens might use, I guess you could be "equipped for alien contact" if you had all sorts of communication gear (radio frequency stuff, computers, lights you can flash, etc)....it seems to me that the shuttle is already equipped with some of these things (admittedly, most of it not designed for "general use"). >You'd want a quarantine area, for starters, >most likely special atmospheric requirements for the aliens, and some idea of >how to speak with them. Since you would need to communicate with them aliens to determine things like atosphere requirements, need for quaretine, how to "speak" to them, etc., I think that most "preparations" would be a shot in the dark....how would you know requriement unless there had been previous communications? >It's even possible that the psychological shock of >meeting alien life forms could be too much for some people; you'd want very >stable types on a meeting team. Astronauts would be pretty stable, don't you think? The government trusts them with a multi-billion dollar space craft, and they are picked for their scientific curiosity and sharp minds. Neal
mhyman@hsfmsh.UUCP (Marco S. Hyman) (03/31/89)
In article <7767@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.UUCP (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes: > In article <355@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink) writes: > > > >Ah, but who said they would want to contact the US government! :-> > >("Wellcome, Comrad Alien") > >-- > Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on > Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in the U.S. than anywhere else on > Earth. Compared to the U.S., the Soviet Union is third-rate, at best. Exactly! Assuming capitalistic aliens, which country has a bigger potential for exploitation, uh sales. --marc -- //Marco S. Hyman //UUCP: ...!sun!sfsun!hsfmsh!mhyman //Domain: sfsun!hsfmsh!mhyman@sun.com
macleod@drivax.UUCP (MacLeod) (03/31/89)
In article <728@key.COM> jsp@penguin.key.COM (James Preston) writes: >In article <4440@drivax.UUCP> macleod@drivax.UUCP (MacLeod) writes: >}On Tuesday March 14, 1989 at 6:42 am the following message was received by a >}UFO investigator in Baltimore through WA3NAN (Goddard) amateur radio >}transission from the orbiter Discovery. "Houston, this is Discovery. We >}still have the alien space craft, uhh, under observance." The transmission >}was picked up on a Radio Shack scanner tuned to 147.45 mhz. > >Can you say, "April fool"? The original poster may have had this in mind, but I didn't post it as a joke. Don't assume I endorse it, either; I follow the rule "read everything, believe nothing" when it comes to UFOs. Michael Sloan MacLeod (amdahl!drivax!macleod)
bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) (03/31/89)
->Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on ->Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in the U.S. than anywhere else on ->Earth. Compared to the U.S., the Soviet Union is third-rate, at best. - -And don't forget that the US probably puts out more RF energy than any -other nation on the earth, which is a sure sign of a scientifically -advanced culture (even if most of it is soap operas and cartoons!). Or we're the only ones still backward enough to require large-scale ground transport, and unsophisticated enough to broadcast RF signals instead of cold-fusion-powered, phase-modulating lasers for communication? Anyone who can get here over multi-lightyear distances may have verrry different expectations for what "advanced" cultures look like on a planet. SINCE I've got the bandwidth now, remember that the Apollo crews had to go into isolation on their return just in case they had encounters with alien viruses, germs, or cooties. Inability to quarantine the Shuttle crews is one way they aren't "equipped for alien contact". They also aren't equipped to destroy any important/secret materials if such becomes necessary. (Maybe the Aliens are plague-ridden Cubans intent on hijacking the Shuttle, transferring all the neat hardware to Mir, and crashing it into the Pentagon...)
wooding@daisy.UUCP (Mike Wooding) (03/31/89)
In article <7769@pyr.gatech.EDU>, ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes: > What I mean by 'not equipped for alien contact' is just that. What do aliens > breathe? Are they radioactive? Do they have microbes that could cause disease > in humans? What do they eat? Before you let aliens in the shuttle with you, ... > how to speak with them. I think contact refers to communications, not sharing a space suit :-) The former of course could and would be done each in the "comfort" of their own environment. The latter would depend on the success of the former:-) As for being prepared to "speak" to THEM, my guess is the person who makes 1st contact will be the most prepared. Even if they don't have a degree in alien languages :-) m wooding
stolfi@jumbo.dec.com (Jorge Stolfi) (03/31/89)
Matthew T. DeLuca wrote: > > Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most > advanced nation on Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in > the U.S. than anywhere else on Earth. I disagree; from orbit, the most advanced nation on Earth is clearly Brazil. More oxygen-producing machines there than anywhere else. Not to mention the largest H2O transportation network in the world. Actually, if I were an alien looking for fun, I would head straight for the place with the largest and sunniest beach, or the most spectacular ski resort (North Africa and Antarctica, respectively). :-) Jorge Stolfi @ DEC Systems Research Center stolfi@src.dec.com, ...!decwrl!stolfi --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In their gun-rack they placed three rifles and three hunting-pieces that could fire explosive bullets, along with a good supply of powder and ammunition. ``Who knows whom or what we will have to deal with,'' said Michel Ardan. ``Men or beasts may take a dim view of our visit. And so we must take every precaution.'' -- Verne, _From the Earth to the Moon_ (1865) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: The above etc. etc.
ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) (03/31/89)
In article <10245@nsc.nsc.com> ken@nsc.nsc.com (Ken Trant) writes: > >article <7751@pyr.gatech.EDU>, ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) says: > >% any *real* aliens would make contact with government officials, and we can >% assume that this didn't happen, since at last check, Bush was at some elementary >% school, talking about U.S. drug policy. > > We should have talked to you for the best information on alien encounters >since you apparently know exactly what is needed, who the aliens would talk >to. BTW which govt have the ET's decided to contact when the get here?. >Maybe they are democrates and are waiting to talk to the Congress?. :-) C'mon, think about it. You're an alien, attempting to make a friendly contact with Earth. How would you do it? Assume you have a basic knowledge about the political and social structure of the planet. You could (1) tell Dan Rather. Well, remember what happened in 1938, with the War of the Worlds broadcast? Panic across the Northeast United States. Humanity tends to be an irrational crowd at times, and with the recent (over the last few years) spate of nasty alien movies, we night very well have a repeat. If I was an alien (actually, the allegation haas been made :-), I would start from the top down. I think that the population as a whole would take the news better from the government than from Dan Rather. As to who the aliens would contact...well, where would the best place be? I would vote for the United States, because (1) by almost any standard, we are the most advanced nation on earth, and (2) the U.N. (for all it's worth) is located here, which (I assume, of course) would be an important location to the aliens, since it is the closest thing we have to anything resembling a world government. Of course, I were the alien, I would come back in about a century; I don't thinkwe're really ready to deal with aliens. A previous poster mentioned that this is not really the appropriate place for this discussion, so if anyone cares to continue it, send me mail. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Matthew DeLuca : Georgia Institute of Technology : Remember, wherever you go, there you are. ARPA: ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.edu :
waters@dover.sps.mot.com (Mike Waters) (04/01/89)
In article <10245@nsc.nsc.com> ken@nsc.nsc.com (Ken Trant) writes: >I think the poster suggested that the "fire on board" statement might have been >prearranged code to switch to another channel. Not to unlikely. Yes I think that would be the LAST code I would pick. Something like "I need to send you some numbers" would get far less unwelcome attention and is just as distinctive. Airports use similar codes in paging, they NEVER announce: "Fire and Bomb Squad report to gate 6". It comes out as: "Mr Williams please meet your party at gate 6 right away." The reasons are pretty obvious in both cases. If Mr Williams is the head to the fire and bomb squad for that shift it is both secure and known to everyone who needs to know. -- *Mike Waters AA4MW/7 ...!sun!sunburn!dover!waters OR moto@cad.Berkley.EDU* "Calvin Coolidge was the greatest man who ever came out of Plymouth Corner, Vermont." -- Clarence Darrow
eschbach@helium.uucp (Reiner Eschbach) (04/01/89)
>Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on >Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in the U.S. than anywhere else on >Earth. Ever been to Europe ? Or ever checked population densities ? Reiner
ken@nsc.nsc.com (Ken Trant) (04/01/89)
article <7767@pyr.gatech.EDU>, ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) says:
% Xref: nsc sci.space:10525 rec.ham-radio:1611 talk.rumors:915 misc.headlines:12001
% In article <355@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink) writes:
%>Ah, but who said they would want to contact the US government! :->
%>("Wellcome, Comrad Alien")
%>--
% Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on
% Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in the U.S. than anywhere else on
% Earth. Compared to the U.S., the Soviet Union is third-rate, at best.
Assumming of course that the aliens believe paving over the earth is a sign
of an advanced civilization and not a sign of a very primative culture.
Ken-
--
PATH= Second star to the right, {...Ken Trant...}
and straight on till morning
National SemiConductor, 1135 Kern Ave. M/S 7C-266; Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Uucp: ...{pyramid,sun,amdahl,apple}!nsc!kenlazarus@athena.mit.edu (Michael Friedman) (04/01/89)
In article <19110@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) writes: >SINCE I've got the bandwidth now, remember that the Apollo crews had to >go into isolation on their return just in case they had encounters with >alien viruses, germs, or cooties. Inability to quarantine the Shuttle >crews is one way they aren't "equipped for alien contact". They also >aren't equipped to destroy any important/secret materials if such >becomes necessary. (Maybe the Aliens are plague-ridden Cubans intent >on hijacking the Shuttle, transferring all the neat hardware to Mir, >and crashing it into the Pentagon...) Come on, people, let's use our heads here. Let's assume first contact, just for the fun of it. Now, what do we know? Well, I. We don't want physical contact. If the aliens are insistent we may risk it, but germs aren't an issue until then - the shuttle and the alien vessel would get near each other and then they would talk. II. Any secret material carried on the shuttle is likely to be secret mainly because of its technological content. If the aliens get here they don't need it and keeping it secret from them is not very important. There are a million and one things you would want on a first contact. Off hand I would come up with the following: Teams of ... Psychologists Ethnologists, Scientists of every type, Representatives from majore international trading companies, Military technolgy specialists, Military strategists and analysts, Management consultants, Linguists Biologists A heavily armed brigade of space marines, A bunch of fighters equipped for a space battle A large number of space to space nuclear missiles Some high powered lasers, particle beams, and other exotic technologies in orbit with all systems off waiting for an on signal to start burning. A complete vbiological laboratory equipped to work with extremely dangerous and contagious agents. (I believe the correct designation is P-4). A module of some type that can be filled with any atmosphere we can think of so that we can host the aliens if they wish. A complete manufacturing facility so that we can provide them with comfortable furniture if we do host them. All of this should take into account the fact that the aliens may be anything from 20 pound midgets to hundred ton whales and all of it (including the people) should be equipped for emergency destruction (our personnel, for example, could have radio-detonated explosives in a necklace around their necks). Basically, there is so much that you would want that you could never get it all into space. So what do you need? A vehicle - the shuttle. Contact personnel - the astronauts. Communications equipment to contact the aliens - on the shuttle. Ground side experts - available at any time. All of the above is always available, so the shuttle is always as ready for alien contact as necessary. Small arms fire can bridge the gaps that divide |||Mike Friedman the different peoples of the world on many issues. |||quoting Anthony Lovell
winter@Apple.COM (Patty Winter) (04/01/89)
Hey, gang, this series had only a marginal connection to rec.ham-radio in the first place (because the transmission was heard via a rebroadcast by the Goddard Amateur Radio Club) and has now gotten totally away from that aspect. All further followups to more appropriate newsgroups, please. BTW... In article<7765@pyr.gatech.EDU>ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU(Matthew T. DeLuca)writes: >A very possible explanation of this occurrence comes to mind: since the >frequency of the alleged transmission is in the middle of the commercial >radio band, it is possible that someone with a radio set to that frequency >broadcast the two items to see what happened, knowing that someone might be >listening. A pretty good joke, if you ask me. The original posting said that the transmission had been monitored from the above-mentioned GARC rebroadcast, which was on 147.45 MHz in the amateur radio 2-meter band, not on a commercial band. The transmissions are in FM, so although it's theoretically possible for someone to capture the frequency away from GARC, a more likely result of putting another transmitter on that frequency would be a collision of the signals such that neither transmission would be intelligible. So I doubt that it was a spoofed signal on top of the real one. Patty ============================================================================= Patty Winter N6BIS DOMAIN: winter@apple.com AMPR.ORG: [44.4.0.44] UUCP: {decwrl,nsc,sun}!apple!winter =============================================================================
trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead) (04/01/89)
In article <7787@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.UUCP (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes: >C'mon, think about it. You're an alien, attempting to make a friendly contact >with Earth. How would you do it? Well, one thing that would be easy to do and would allow aliens to learn a lot about human society and technology would be to get a Usenet feed. I wouldn't be at all surprised if half the posters in some newsgroups were extraterrestrials.... ;^) -- * Robert J Woodhead * The true meaning of life is cunningly encrypted and * * uunet!biar!trebor * hidden somewhere in this signature... * * Biar Games, Inc. * ...no, go back and look again *
edhew@egvideo.UUCP (Ed Hew) (04/01/89)
The original article I'm referring to suggested a possible sighting by the most recent space shuttle crew of an alien spacecraft resulting in transmissions picked up by a RadioShack scanner but mysteriously missing from the official NASA tapes ...... or so it goes .... In article <355@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink) writes: >In article <7751@pyr.gatech.EDU>, ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes (much other stuff removed): >> any *real* aliens would make contact with government officials, and we can >> assume that this didn't happen, since at last check, Bush was at some elementary >> school, talking about U.S. drug policy. > >Ah, but who said they would want to contact the US government! :-> >("Wellcome, Comrad Alien") .... and just why would any self-respecting "alien" want to talk to any particular terrestrial government at all? It seems that earthly governments tend to range from the paranoid to the crazy, with a peripheral fringe of the merely self-centred. Governments, by their very nature, tend to be composed of individuals who are either elected or serving those elected officials who arrange suitable salaries for "civil servents" (I really have trouble with the embeded dual dichotomy of that phrase). Why any self-respecting extraterrestrial would want to talk to the leader of a "free world" country, a communist country, or an islamic leader who pronounces death sentances on authors of fiction is totally beyond me. Any rational being might be predisposed to recognise that contact with a new species would be best made through those involved in the scientific community and search this out. At the very least, they'd be more likely to want to contact to someone in a space vehicle than in a legislature, palace, temple, or military barracks. --ed {edhew@egvideo.uucp} >AN ANTIMATTER SHORTAGE" ("WHAT'S NEW") | sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (att!cbnewsl!sw) Ed. A. Hew UUCP@bus: ..!{uunet!}utai!lsuc!xenicon!edhew Internet: edhew@xenicon.uucp UUCP@res: ..!{uunet!}watmath!egvideo!edhew Internet: edhew@egvideo.uucp #I haven't lost my mind, it's backed up on floppy around here somewhere!
abcscnge@csuna.csun.edu (Scott "The Pseudo-Hacker" Neugroschl) (04/01/89)
[reasons for aliens to land in the US deleted] Besides, they have ELVIS (and the WWII bombers from Mars) , and HE ( and they) came from the good old U-S-of-A. -- Scott "The Pseudo-Hacker" Neugroschl UUCP: ...!sm.unisys.com!csun!csuna.csun.edu!abcscnge -- unless explicitly stated above, this article not for use by rec.humor.funny -- Disclaimers? We don't need no stinking disclaimers!!!
ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) (04/02/89)
In article <707@rocksanne.UUCP> eschbach@helium.UUCP (Reiner Eschbach) writes: > >>Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on >>Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in the U.S. than anywhere else on >>Earth. > >Ever been to Europe ? Or ever checked population densities ? > >Reiner No, I haven't. But the population density of Europe is only slightly greater than that of the U.S., and we do have a greater infrastructure than Europe, however you care to measure it. If you want population density, look to some of the African nations, or perhaps India. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Matthew DeLuca : Georgia Institute of Technology : Remember, wherever you go, there you are. ARPA: ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.edu :
john@frog.UUCP (John Woods) (04/02/89)
In article <7767@pyr.gatech.EDU>, ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes: > In article <355@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink) writes: > >Ah, but who said they would want to contact the US government! :-> > >("Wellcome, Comrad Alien") > Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on > Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in the U.S. than anywhere else on > Earth. Compared to the U.S., the Soviet Union is third-rate, at best. Yes, but the bulk of the stuff *going TO orbit* comes from the Soviet Union. Compared to the S.U., the United States isn't even competing... Now, if spaceflight was important enough to YOU to travel N light years in a dingy old can, which would you find more interesting...? (unless, of course, you planned to do a little driving while you were here :-) -- John Woods, Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA, (508) 626-1101 ...!decvax!frog!john, john@frog.UUCP, ...!mit-eddie!jfw, jfw@eddie.mit.edu Remainder Khomeini!
roskos@ida.org (Eric Roskos) (04/03/89)
>Finally, any *real* aliens would make contact with government officials, >and we can assume that this didn't happen, since at last check, Bush was >at some elementary school, talking about U.S. drug policy. On the date in question, the President was at the White House, where he met with: - The Vice President; John H. Sununu, Chief of Staff to the President; Brent Scowcroft, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; and members of the CIA briefing staff; - members of the Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform; - Spanish Foreign Minister Francisco Fernandez-Ordonez; - The Congressional Budget Committee; - and John H. Sununu again. He also spoke to the Antidefamation League at 9:50AM, the National Legislative Conference of the Independent Insurance Agents of America at 10:18AM, and the swearing-in of Edward J. Derwinski at 1PM. So I'm sure the aliens would not have missed him had they landed at the White House to visit, since all of this happened within about a mile of there. -- Eric Roskos (roskos@CS.IDA.ORG or Roskos@DOCKMASTER.ARPA)
ZZASSGL@cms.umrcc.ac.uk ("Geoff. Lane. Tel UK-061 275 6051") (04/03/89)
>As to who the aliens would contact...well, where would the best place be? I >would vote for the United States, because (1) by almost any standard, we are >the most advanced nation on earth, and (2) the U.N. (for all it's worth) is >located here, which (I assume, of course) would be an important location to >the aliens, since it is the closest thing we have to anything resembling a >world government. >Matthew DeLuca Advanced maybe ... but what the aliens would need is a nice civilised country that won't flip its lid -- they would probably go to Australia!! Geoff. Lane (Not an Austrialian)
eschbach@helium.uucp (Reiner Eschbach) (04/03/89)
In <7803@pyr.gatech.EDU> Matthew DeLuca answers to >In article ><707@rocksanne.UUCP> eschbach@helium.UUCP (Reiner Eschbach) writes: >> >>>Well, from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on >>>Earth. More roads, dams, and bridges are in the U.S. than anywhere else on >>>Earth. >> >>Ever been to Europe ? Or ever checked population densities ? >> >>Reiner > >No, I haven't. But the population density of Europe is only slightly greater >than that of the U.S., and we do have a greater infrastructure than Europe, >however you care to measure it. If you want population density, look to >some of the African nations, or perhaps India. Ok, some numbers: Population density US 68 per square mile! Austria 233 Belgium 810 France 252 West Germany 626 Italy 493 Netherlands 931 UK 601 So much to your 'slightly greater' density. You are quite good with your guess for India => 658 but the per capita income in India is $150 which is 1 or 2% that of the European countries. Don't forget, West Germany is the biggest export nation of the world with $294 bil followed by the US with $250 bil and Japan $231.( If you really want to have fun change that to per capita trade) Greater infrastructure than in Europe? Are you refering to roads and bridges and all our outward signs of civilization? If yes, here is a nice answer: I'm german and I spent my first 30 years in Germany. You know what I hated there compared to the US? The crowdedness! Roads, bridges, buildings everywhere! Get of your TV image of Europe beeing a vacation village in the Swiss alps. I apologize if this sounds like flaming but it reminded me too much of a question I had to answer not too long ago: "Do they have telephones in Germany ?" My recommendation: spend some time in Europe (not a 21 countries in 14 days tour). Best regards Reiner Disclaimer: All the views above are mine and those of the world almanach.
larry@macom1.UUCP (Larry Taborek) (04/03/89)
From article <10245@nsc.nsc.com>, by ken@nsc.nsc.com (Ken Trant): > > article <7751@pyr.gatech.EDU>, ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.EDU (Mat T. DeLuca) says: > % Xref: nsc sci.space:10486 rec.ham-radio:1579 talk.rumors:907 misc.headlines:11954 > % In article <4440@drivax.UUCP> macleod@drivax.UUCP (MacLeod) writes: Skipping story of news pickup of interesting transmission from space shuttle. > I think the poster suggested that the "fire on board" statement might have been > prearranged code to switch to another channel. Not to unlikely. > I suggest that the "fire on board" statement would be VERY unlikely. NASA would more likely specify for a crew to broadcast a "switching to channel xxy" message, where channel xxy is a secure channel, then a "fire on board" message. After all, what if there was a fire on board? Would the crew pass along a cryptic "alian spacecraft spotted" message instead, for NASA to puzzle through their code books for? I think not! A "Fire on board" message, or any other emergency message would not be coded by NASA to mean something other then exactly what it says. No, a fire on board message could not be a prearranged code. Remember the fire where Grissim, White and Chaffie died in their Apollo space craft on the launch pad? There, the message was, if memory serves me "Fire in the space craft!" (perhaps space craft and the word capsule should be exchanged). In either case, the message was not encoded to be anything other then what it means. If this were a NASA message that actually meant "fire on board", why would there not been a lot of excited discussion between ground control and the space shuttle? I suggest that the reason was because it was not a NASA generated message. It would make no sense if it was. If this was not a NASA message, then what was it? A "Fire on board" message closely followed by a "alien space craft spotted" message shows me that some ham radio operator (or other radio wizard) was probably having fun. I mean to suggest no guilty party or individual, but only a more sensible explination. -- Larry Taborek ..!uunet!grebyn!macom1!larry Centel Federal Systems larry@macom1.UUCP 11400 Commerce Park Drive Reston, VA 22091-1506 703-758-7000
firth@sei.cmu.edu (Robert Firth) (04/04/89)
In article <7803@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.UUCP (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes: [from orbit, the United States is clearly the most advanced nation on Earth] >No, I haven't. But the population density of Europe is only slightly greater >than that of the U.S., and we do have a greater infrastructure than Europe, >however you care to measure it. If you haven't looked it up, why speculate? In fact, Western Europe has a population density more than twice that of the US (approx 300 million in 2 million sq miles, versus 240 million in 3.6 million sq miles). Concerning infrastructure, I care to measure it also by density. For instance, the US has a static rail network slightly less dense than that of W Europe (300k miles /3.6M sq miles versus 180k miles /2M sq miles). Thus, it has a lower density of: canals, railways, hydroelectric works, and electric power generation. The US has a higher density infrastructure in one major area: long distance roads (160k miles /3.6M versus about 50k miles /2M is my guess; it's not easy to compute since standards differ hugely, unlike railways where only two gauges are involved). I was unable to find figures about natural inland navigable waterways and coastal traffic, but suspect the US has the edge there, too. [Sources: Britannica Encyclopaedia & World Book; Times Atlas of the World. Most data from 1983-86. "Western Europe" obtained by adding Great Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Low Countries and West Germany]
robiner@ganelon.usc.edu (Steve) (04/04/89)
>Remember the fire where Grissim, White and Chaffie died in their >Apollo space craft on the launch pad? There, the message was, if >memory serves me "Fire in the space craft!" (perhaps space craft >and the word capsule should be exchanged). In either case, the >message was not encoded to be anything other then what it means. > When Apollo 13 had an electrical fire, loss of some power and system failure, they said "uh, Houston, we have a problem." somewhat toned down for public consumption. =Steve=
dsm@prism.gatech.EDU (Daniel McGurl) (04/04/89)
After reading this wonderful debate on who the "aliens" would contact first I was rather suprised that no one mentioned what I thought was the obvious answer (assuming that the knew a good bit about the Earth). It seems to me that the most likely event would be for them to "announce" themselves to the world at large. If they are as intelligent as the netters are giving them credit for, they would know the political implications of landing at any one place. And if they are not friendly? Seems to me a few select tac nukes (or similar things) would be enough to make the Earth quite dead. Think what would happen if 5-10 American (or Russian) cities went up into a mushroom cloud. Anyone think that we (or the Russians) would believe it's spacers dropping these nukes? I somehow doubt it... -- Daniel Sean McGurl "He's got to make his own mistakes, Office of Computing Services and learn to mend the mess he makes." Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ARPA: dsm@prism.gatech.edu
sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Stuart Warmink) (04/04/89)
In article <16278@oberon.USC.EDU>, robiner@ganelon.usc.edu (Steve) writes: > When Apollo 13 had an electrical fire, loss of some power and system > failure, [...] Quite an understatement! One of the Service Module's fuel tanks blew up, they lost all fuel cells and hence all (non-battery) power. Luckily the Lunar Module was still attached & unused... -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Captain, I see no reason to stand here | Stuart Warmink, Whippany, NJ, USA and be insulted" - Spock | sw@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (att!cbnewsl!sw) -------------------------> My opinions are just that <------------------------
rodman@mfci.UUCP (Paul Rodman) (04/04/89)
In article <16278@oberon.USC.EDU> robiner@ganelon.usc.edu (Steve) writes: >> >When Apollo 13 had an electrical fire, loss of some power and system >failure, they said "uh, Houston, we have a problem." somewhat toned >down for public consumption. > >=Steve= I belive the quote was "Uh, Houston, we have a problem here.". I think toned down due to the nature of the Astronaut saying it, not for any worry of public consumption. [When a test pilot says there is a problem, it's probably because he can see flames coming off the vehicle..:-):-):-) ] Bye, Paul K. Rodman rodman@mfci.uucp __... ...__ _.. . _._ ._ .____ __.. ._
jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) (04/04/89)
Another confusing criterion for the aliens: the brightest country by night is Belgium, because of the lunatic amount of street lighting they use, and the brightest light sources anywhere are the gas flares in the Persian Gulf. Of course they may prefer the gamma-ray spectrum, in which case they'd be touching down in Kyshtym :-) -- Jack Campin * Computing Science Department, Glasgow University, 17 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, SCOTLAND. 041 339 8855 x6045 wk 041 556 1878 ho INTERNET: jack%cs.glasgow.ac.uk@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk USENET: jack@glasgow.uucp JANET: jack@uk.ac.glasgow.cs PLINGnet: ...mcvax!ukc!cs.glasgow.ac.uk!jack
eschbach@helium.uucp (Reiner Eschbach) (04/04/89)
In article <3137@bd.sei.cmu.edu> Robert Firth writes: >In fact, Western Europe has a population density more than twice that >of the US (approx 300 million in 2 million sq miles, versus 240 million >in 3.6 million sq miles). This numbers contradict what I had posted before, and I think we both made some mistakes because we assumed things we shouldn't assume. Wetsern Europe has in fact 300 million people if you add the countries Robert mentions. My almanach, however, gives me a differnt size: 814,000 square miles, less than 50% of Robert's number, givind a population density of roughly 5 times that of the US. The only explanation I have, is that Rob's square miles include the Soviet Union which, as far as I remember (don't bet on it), is half or more of total Europe. This is actually also the mistake I constantly make: whenever I say Europe, I actually only refer to the Benelux, UK, France, FRG, etc. and omit Poland, Albania (sp?) etc.! So please everybody substitute Western Europe wherever I said Europe. As to the roads, I share Rob's unease about the definition of 'long distance road' but I was not able to find data myself. In waterways I doubt ( no data ) that the US is denser, because 'Wester' Europe has a lot of natural waterways and is in general close to water, whereas the US has a huge land area far removed from water. But, it's just a guess. Reiner