In the seemingly futile hunt for alien intelligences somewhere in our vicinity (aka the SETI programme), perhaps the most famous moment was the brief burst of radio signal activity received on the 15th of August 1977, by Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope in the United States.
The astronomer Jerry R. Ehman discovered the signal anomaly when he was reviewing the data a few days later, and was so surprised when he saw the computer print outs, that he circled the reading on the paper and then scribbled the comment 'Wow!' next to it. This then became the short hand name for the event.
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| WOW Indeed .... If You Know What Your Looking At! |
The astronomer Jerry R. Ehman discovered the signal anomaly when he was reviewing the data a few days later, and was so surprised when he saw the computer print outs, that he circled the reading on the paper and then scribbled the comment 'Wow!' next to it. This then became the short hand name for the event.
