A Signal from an Extraterrestrial Source
On August 15, 1977, Jerry Ehman used the Big Ear telescope at Ohio University to capture an odd radio signal from space. The 72-second noise was so strange that Ehman wrote “Wow” on a piece of paper nearby, inspiration for the nickname given to it: the Wow signal.
There are several theories about the signal, which was a mystery. The most popular idea is that aliens beamed it down. However, contrary to popular belief, Ehman does not believe that the telescope picked up a comet.