Seventy-Two Seconds of Silence

On August 15th, 1977, a radio telescope in Ohio picked up something it was never supposed to find. For seventy-two seconds, a signal blazed out of Sagittarius — narrowband, intense, at exactly the frequency scientists had predicted an alien civilization would use. Then it was gone. Radio astronomer Dr. Paul Reinhart joins Sterling to walk through the night it happened, the forty-five years of failed searches that followed, and the silence that has never been explained. Tonight's Numbers Station Puzzler: crack the broadcast, then email your answer and the episode number (episode 61) to [email protected] for a shot at a secret line to the show. Presented by Double Secret Labs — we do science so you don't have to. Find Strangely Odd on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.