Tag: Bob Dawson

Embark On the Search for Extraterrestrial Life in Documentary ‘Wow Signal’

Listen to “E223 Embark on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life in Documentary ‘Wow Signal’” on Spreaker.

January 6, 2020                              (digitaljournal.com)

• Beginning January 21, 2020, distributor TriCoast Entertainment will release the feature length documentary “WOW SIGNAL” on streaming platforms Amazon, iTunes, FlixFling, Vimeo on Demand, and Google Play. Produced by Bob Dawson and Michael Shaw, the film documents a night in 1977 when Ohio radio telescope operators discovered a strong, interstellar signal that is said to be the world’s best evidence of communication from an extraterrestrial civilization. The resulting code of printed letters and numbers was so astounding, one of the astronomers wrote the word: ‘Wow!’ next to it, and it became the “Wow Signal”.

• While the origins of the signal remain a mystery, the documentary takes the opportunity of the Wow Signal event to explore the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence by Seth Shostak at SETI, Jerry Ehman of the University of Michigan, Karen O’Neil and Michael Holstine of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and radio astronomer John D. Krause who designed the “Big Ear” radio telescope at Ohio State University which picked up the signal. These are folks who believe that intelligent life beyond our own exists just ‘outside our grasp’. The ramifications of proving that “we are not alone” is a strong motivation for continued research.

• Produced by ‘Next Feature Filmstory’, WOW SIGNAL comes off of a successful run through the festival circuit, winning Best U.S. Documentary Feature at the Los Angeles Theatrical Release Competition & Awards in 2018, and being recognized at the Roswell Film Festival, the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, and the Raw Science Film Festival.

• Says the film’s director Bob Dawson, “The job of a documentary filmmaker is never to come to a conclusion. It’s always to present the evidence and let your audience decide.”

[Editor’s Note]  It is interesting that the film’s director would say that “the job of a documentary filmmaker is never to come to a conclusion” but let your audience decide. This happens to be the very same view as mainstream astronomers such as Seth Shostak of SETI have in their ‘ongoing search’ for extraterrestrial life. The ‘Wow Signal’ is ideal for the mainstream because it offers a small bit of proof of another alien civilization out there somewhere, but no concrete evidence. This way, SETI astronomers and mainstream documentary filmmakers can keep doing what they do for a living, forever. It all remains a never-ending search, a big mystery, and a steady paycheck.

The ‘conclusion’ that they want people will take away is that our top ‘scientists’ are working diligently to find other intelligent extraterrestrial beings and civilizations. But in fact, they are doing the exact opposite. They are actively hiding the truth.

The truth is that the US shadow government has been working with extraterrestrial beings, developing highly advanced technologies, and building a secret space program ever since the Roswell crash of 1947. All of this searching by SETI through radio telescope arrays is mere misdirection to maintain this seventy-year cover-up of the true extraterrestrial presence. The real purpose of mainstream scientists and the controlled media is to reinforce the institutionalized lie that everything can be explained as weather balloons, atmospheric phenomenon, or top secret military technology, and that there is no such thing as extraterrestrials or alien UFOs.

 

1977, another civilization may have been calling… and we were listening.

Los Angeles, CA – Jan 6, 2020 – In a dark, wooded clearing in Ohio, a large radio telescope received a mysterious communication from deep space. Discovered days later as a code of printed letters and numbers, it became regarded as the strongest potential alien communication, branded by a single word: ‘Wow!’

       Director/Producer Bob Dawson

WOW SIGNAL is a fascinating and thought-provoking documentary that follows the development, search, discovery and acceptance of the Wow Signal’s place in history, and its influence on future SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) projects and uncovers the passion of scientists who do the work through interviews of radio astronomers like John D. Krause, who built homemade radio telescopes and designed the building “Big Ear”.

Receiving various official selections and finalist accolades, WOW SIGNAL was awarded Best U.S. Documentary Feature at LATCA 2018. The science documentary stars Jerry Ehman (Astronomer at the University of Michigan), Karen O’Neil (Site Director National Radio Astronomy Observatory), Seth Shostak (Former director of SETI) and Michael Holstine (Former Director National Radio Astronomy Observatory; Child of God, Angel’s Perch).

“WOW SIGNAL makes a strong case for radio astronomy and the continued search for extraterrestrial life in the universe. The notion that “we are not alone,” and its ramifications are a strong motivation for continued research. The film is educational and highly recommended for anyone interested in Astronomy and/or the universe around us here on earth,” wrote JR Martin Media.

 

2:47 minute trailer for ‘WOW SIGNAL’ movie (‘TRIADincVideos’ YouTube)

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Wow! Signal Makes Waves in New Documentary on Search for Extraterrestrials

by Joe Blundo             January 16, 2018             (dispatch.com)

• On Aug. 15, 1977, Big Ear, a large Delaware County, Ohio installation detected natural radio waves coming from space, recorded an extremely strong signal. A computer expressed the signal in alphanumeric code (6EQUJ5). Jerry Ehman, a volunteer at the facility, spotted the powerful signal, circled it and wrote “Wow!” in the margin. John Kraus, the Ohio State professor who led the Big Ear program, dubbed it the “Wow! signal”.

• Now, film director Bob Dawson tells the story of Ohio State University’s ‘Big Ea’ radio telescope and other efforts to detect signs of intelligent life in space in his documentary film, “WOW Signal”. The film reaches no conclusion on the signal that captivated Ehman. “The job of a documentary filmmaker is never to come to a conclusion,” Dawson said. “It’s always to present the evidence and let your audience decide.”

 

More than 40 years later, Jerry Ehman’s one-word reaction to what he read on a computer printout continues to fascinate others.

The word: Wow!

It still brings Ehman calls from UFO enthusiasts, got him mentioned on the original “X-Files” and has landed him a prominent role in “WOW Signal,” a feature-length documentary being screened in local theaters this month.

“WOW Signal,” directed by local filmmaker Bob Dawson, tells the story of Ohio State University’s “Big Ear” radio telescope and other efforts to detect signs of intelligent life in space.

On Aug. 15, 1977, Big Ear, a large Delaware County installation that detected the natural radio waves coming from space, recorded an extremely strong signal that, for several reasons, suggested that it could have been produced by an intelligent life form.

A computer expressed the signal in alphanumeric code (6EQUJ5). Ehman, a volunteer who reviewed printouts of what the computer recorded, spotted the powerful signal, circled it and wrote “Wow!” in the margin.

            Jerry Ehman

John Kraus, the Ohio State professor who led the construction of Big Ear, dubbed it the “Wow! signal” and wrote about it in scientific publications.

Neither Kraus, who died in 2004, nor Ehman, now 78 and living in southern Delaware County, called the signal proof of intelligent life. Ehman said he prefers “tantalizing candidate.”

It has yet to be explained, although one astronomer made news last year with his theory that the signal was made by passing comets. Ehman discounts that theory.

Dawson, director of several previous documentaries, was familiar with the Big Ear story from an exhibit at the Ohio Historical Society (now called the Ohio History Center), where he previously worked. His film goes beyond Big Ear, demolished in 1998 after a land sale, to investigate ongoing efforts to find extraterrestrial intelligence and the passion of scientists who do the work.

It reaches no conclusion on the signal that captivated Ehman.

“The job of a documentary filmmaker is never to come to a conclusion,” Dawson said. “It’s always to present the evidence and let your audience    decide.”
Some have already decided.

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