Hacker Cinema
Wow Signal
2017 · Film · documentary · 88 min
Directed by Bob Dawson
On a late summer evening in 1977, Ohio radio astronomers discovered a strong, interstellar signal that is believed by many to be the best evidence of communication from an extraterrestrial civilization.
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It was after watching a documentary called "WOW Signal". The receiver they built was along the edge of a field, and it's designed to pick up extremely weak variations in electrical signals/radio waves. They go into great detail about how sensitive it is. The signal itself looks like a parabola when graphed, gaining in intensity and then falling off at the same rate. Exactly what you'd expect from someone walking across the field in front of it. And if I remember correctly, the signal was more about how much it differed from what was expected, not necessarily how intense it was. My thinking is that if it can pick up on the variations in signal from a star system light-years away, it would also indicate on a Timex watch (or flashlight) a dozen meters away.