Extraterrestrial, First Contact.

"You must ....change....reset...", extreme static interrupted the words of the unclear transmission. They were expecting signals, sounds, but certainly not clear and precise words.

The scientific staff manning the night desks of the Ohio State University Perkin's Observatory, using the Big Ears Radio Telescope, leapt to their collective feet. The message had gotten their total and immediate attention. Not believing what their human eyes and ears were telling them, they stared in consternation at the monitor. The transmission must be of a specific and extraterrestrial nature, the signals were violently strong and completely off the charts.

Everyone stood up, chairs all tumbling aside as they dashed over to the recording console to make sure that the communication was indeed being recorded. It was. The radio waves were going crazy, and electricity was being dimmed in an erratic pattern, not unlike morse code. The signal was unlike anything that they had ever seen or heard before.

"Hello", Friedman, who was the lead scientist on duty that night, was unable to sit or stand still. He paced back and forth as adrenaline coursed through his entire body.

"Is anyone there. We are listening. Please repeat your message. I say again, we are listening"! His voice sounded strained with uncontrolled excitement.

"You must.....reset ...your....password ....immediately". Followed by more static and frantic conversation in an unknown language.

"Did they say reset your password"? Friedman asked, turning to Emerson and Jonthau, the other two scientists in the room who were hovering just as nervously for confirmation of what was happening.

"Yes, that is what we heard". They both answered excitedly.

"Hello, who are you, and where are you broadcasting from. This is planet Earth. We are unsure if you already know that".

Unbelievably, the voice spoke again. Quite clearly this time.

"We are intercepting your signals and trying to prevent disaster on your world. We know of Earth. Our intent is not to harm but to give advice on your impending doom".

The voice was choppy and robotic, still hollow and accompanied by static and other-worldly sounds, the transmission was eerily ghostly and ethereal in pitch, but the words were heard quite clearly.

"This is the High Council from the Constellation Sagittarius. We mean you no harm". The beings continued.

Waving frantically at the others for their input, Friedman was quiet for a moment, he was at a loss for words..

More static grated across the night as the sound of arguing could be heard over the transmission. They did not understand the words, but the intention and the message were clear. Something was drastically wrong. They needed to finish the recording and present their findings to the relevant authorities as soon as possible. Everything had to have credible, believable and total irrefutable proof of alien communication.

Emerson wrote frantically on a sheet of paper and handed it to Friedman. He read it and nodded.

"Are you suggesting that we change the frequency of our current transmission. We believe that this is what you actually mean by changing the password. That is a totally different action. Can you co-ordinate with us as we realign and adjust our antennas to reflect the changing radio waves"?

"We have already made the calculations, you need only a simple matter of adjustments to your radio, our technology is far more advanced than that which you possess ". Was the reply.

Jonthau had already also made some calculations. He pointed to the changes on the large monitoring screen.

"Ok. We understand".

"Begin changing over now, we can no longer block the signal of the other species which is a threat. They are already breaking through our signal blockade". The voice faded away.

Everything went quiet for a while. The crew of the station worked fast and furiously to reposition and realign the telescope and radio frequency with the different frequency of communication. It was a tricky situation, trying to reposition everything to realign with the elusive Sagittarius Constellation, but finally the signal returned, faint at first, then the screens burst into life again. They had finished without a moment to spare. The static, background noise and lights resumed their erratic behavior, and fervent communication resumed.

"Can you hear us? If you can, please explain the source of our previous conversation. What did you mean by imminent danger to Earth". Jonthau asked.

Friedman was on the phone to his superiors who would in turn forward the information to the President and all the relevant authorities. They had enough proof for all the official scientific bodies to measure and confirm the communication was indeed emanating from outer space. Emerson was forwarding all details to everyone involved. They had a courier standing by to deliver any physical evidence which would be needed to corroborate their findings.

The WOW signal

"Forty-six of your years ago, only two years to us, we attempted to communicate with you. Your primitive devices then prevented a successful interconnection with your world. We wanted to warn you of imminent invasion by the Surrelians of Planet Aquarius ZXR. Their world is dying and they have targeted your fertile planet for their next home world. You have approximately one of your earth month to prepare for invasion. Currently they are unaware of our communication. We will speak again tomorrow at the same time. Please be ready for further discussions again on the subject". The transmission ended abruptly.

"They are talking about the WOW signal back in 1977". This is all the proof that we need. They had already tried to communicate, then whatever they are saying must be true". Emerson was already digging into all the information that she had stored in the files about the 1977 signals.

"This signal has a very strong modulation, a factor that was missing in the radio transmission in 77', this is wonderful. It's further proof that we are right". She sounded ecstatic and excited.

Could they have really found it. Proof of other civilizations in the universe. Proof that we are not alone in the vastness of time and space. Of course, Murphy had to add his bit of adage of "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". As soon as we find company for our planet, there is someone else ready to invade and conquer us. Never a moment's peace for us, is there.

All the wheels had been set in motion. Some of the people involved wanted to warn the entire world immediately, some wanted to wait. The President and other world leaders had the last word and wanted irrefutable and definitive proof from all the different scientific bodies before a final decision would be made. It was decided to find a peaceful resolution to the problem, this way people would not have to panic, and would be notified after the threat had passed.

January fifth, 2023, dawned cold and snowy, but with a healthy sun shining overhead. None of the three had gone home. Friedman had left briefly to address the officials who had convened in Washington. A military helicopter had picked him up and dropped him back off early in the morning. No one wanted to miss the opportunity of another communication. The place was packed with scientists from all over. Information was being sent to outside monitors to accommodate the growing crowd. The three scientists all took a quick shower, had a change of clothes ( everyone always travelled with extras, just in case), got coffee and got to work getting ready for the onslaught of questions and preparation for further contact later in the night.

The phone rang at midday. The President was on the line. Cameras had been set up to transmit all of the proceedings back to Washington and the White House. They barely had time for a quick meal with all the excitement and frantic pace at which everything was moving. Friedman picked up the line.

"Yes, Madam President. Everything is ready here and everyone is keeping their eyes and ears glued to the screens and telescope. We have not missed anything". He listened for a while, they were offered congratulations and then was turned over to the Military Commander who was working along with the top minds in the field as well as NASA, for further instructions.

"Friedman, here is our proposal. There are two planets which we have identified which are similar to earth and can be offered to anyone who needs a home. The um, what are they called again? Planet Aquarius ZXR folks may have first crack at any one of them. If that is not acceptable, we don't see why we can't share our planet with another planet's people. We would have to find out about them first though. We have been searching for life on other planets for far too long to have to go to war with any new species".

"I understand General Redly. We will pass on this information to the Sagittarians later tonight. Thank you, Sir". He rang off deep in thought.

He relayed the information to his colleagues, who were beyond excited about aliens being brought to earth to co-exist with humans. Even though we all fear that which we do not understand. There would be total chaos at first.

Promptly at eight o'clock, just like the night before, the radio telescope crackled with static. The information on meeting each other halfway was relayed. The Sagittarians promised to speak with the Aquarians and return in exactly four earth days with an answer. They needed time to investigate and negotiate with the other species. They lived in a cold climate and would inhabit the coldest regions of earth, maybe a truce could be worked out since most of earth preferred the warmer regions. Hopefully they would choose one of the other planets instead. The Sagittarian, named Xertani, was very skeptical, believing that the Aquarians must already know of the existence of whatever planets were habitable in the immense open spaces surrounding them.

The governments of earth prepared for war in the meantime. No one really believed that a war between the species was not imminent. The scientists scrambled to contain the information as a few reporters had been snooping around. They smelled a grand story brewing.

As hard as they tried to keep the information contained, it was in vain. The story burst onto the front pages of newspapers everywhere across the entire planet. A panic stricken, distraught and agitated world stayed glued to their televisions and electronic devices, waiting impatiently for news of the very real and imminent threat of invasion of their home.

Meetings, briefings and everyone flying back and forth for discussions and double checking of data, plans, suggestions, ideas and strategies consumed the next four days. Earth as a whole had to be prepared for any and every foreseeable scenario.

Four days later, the signal again leapt to life.

"People of earth, after long deliberation and talks with the leaders of the dying planet of Aquarius ZXR, they have decided with great reluctance to accept your proposal. Their people and resources are stretched thin and though still a formidable force, they would like to avoid a war. Their only stipulation is to have the option of living between the new Planet Oxion-47, which is their first choice and the colder regions of your planet, it is good to have options they have decided". Xertani paused as the sounds of cheering and shouting obscured his words.

"I take it from the strange sounds of happiness that you agree with this decision then? He asked.

"Give us a moment to get confirmation from the leaders of the world. I am sure that we can anticipate a positive response from everyone".

He was right. Everyone was in agreement and a new way of life was announced to the world.

World leaders from everywhere sent their thanks to the Sagittarian beings for their perseverance in pursuing a long reconnaissance and watchful protection of our planet. They await eagerly to meet with officials who will be representing the three planets as soon as possible, was the message transmitted to everyone.

We had finally had our dream, proof of other intelligent beings besides ourselves existing in the universe. A realization which had come in an amazing and wonderful way.

We had reset our universal password and found life outside of ourselves.

What great opportunities awaited us in a much brighter future together?

Only time will tell.~~~~~~~~

My name is Adelia Emerson, and I was a part of one of the greatest moments in the history of our earth. That was the day I changed and reset my passwords to everything.

1/5/23

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The Wow! signal was a strong narrowband radio signal detected on August 15, 1977, by Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope in the United States, then used to support the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The signal appeared to come from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius and bore the expected hallmarks of extraterrestrial origin.

The Ohio State University Radio Observatory was a Kraus-type (after its inventor John D. Kraus) radio telescope located on the grounds of the Perkins Observatory at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio from 1963 to 1998. Known as Big Ear, the observatory was part of Ohio State University's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project. The telescope was designed by John D. Kraus. Construction of the Big Ear began in 1956 and was completed in 1961, and it was finally turned on for the first time in 1963.

The world's largest filled-aperture (i.e. full dish) radio telescope is the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) completed in 2016 by China.[8] The 500-meter-diameter (1,600 ft) dish with an area as large as 30 football fields is built into a natural karst depression in the landscape in Guizhou province and cannot move.

The world's second largest filled-aperture telescope was the Arecibo radio telescope located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, though it suffered catastrophic collapse on 1 December 2020. Arecibo was one of the world's few radio telescope also capable of active (i.e., transmitting) radar imaging of near-Earth objects. (Wiki)