Researchers say that recent predictions involving locations where intelligent aliens might be likeliest to intercept signals from Earth remain accurate, providing potential forecasts for when Earth might also receive contact via an alien signal from another intelligent civilization.
Over five decades ago in 1973, NASA sent a radio signal to the Pioneer 10 probe that eventually reached a white dwarf star. Between 1980 and 1983, similar transmissions were sent to Voyager 2, which launched in 1977 and eventually reached a brown dwarf star located 24 light-years away in 2007.
Now, new findings by a group of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California (UCLA) have delved more deeply into data collected from these distant NASA probes currently operating in deep space.
Encounters with Earthly Signals?
Along with Pioneer 10, transmissions from Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Pioneer 11, and New Horizons were also mapped to track where these signals might have spread after their release into deep space. Specifically, the researchers predicted that if extraterrestrial life exists near the brown dwarf that could have intercepted Earthly messages in 2007, a response to the original Voyager 2 signal could arrive by sometime in the 2030s.
Based on this possibility, in a paper first released in 2023, the team compiled a list of additional stars and planets that might be likely to encounter an earthly signal over time.
“This is a famous idea from Carl Sagan, who used it as a plot theme in the movie ‘Contact,’” lead researcher Howard Isaacson, a UC Berkeley astronomer, said at the time of the initial paper’s publication.
2029: A Space Oddity
Following up on the prospective timeline the team put forward in their paper, Isaacson recently offered additional details on his team’s research in an email to The Debrief.
“Our estimates for when we might expect an answer from an alien civilization are based upon the length of time required for our radio signals, traveling at the speed of light, to reach the nearest star that is in their path,” Issacson said.
“The Earth is constantly transmitting radio signals, but we focused on those that were used to communicate with NASA spacecraft such as the famous Voyager spacecraft. That civilization would then have to send their own signal at the speed of light, and it would take time to travel back to us,” Issacson explained.
“The duration of light travel time to that star and back to us results in a return data in 2029. We made this calculation using astronomical mapping data from the most precise measurements of star positions ever conducted, those from the Gaia space mission,” he added.
“This analysis gives Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) researchers a more focused group of stars to study,” said Reilly Derrick, a UCLA researcher and lead author of the 2023 paper.
But do the calculations remain accurate two years later?
An Alien Signal Could Soon Arrive… Maybe
“Our measurements and calculations still hold true, the same as two years ago,” Isaacson confirmed. “Many SETI searches take a wide-angle approach, targeting thousands of stars because it is difficult to know where to look for something never previously observed.
“The purpose of our paper was to offer SETI scientists a time and location on the sky to point their limited and precious telescope time,” he added.
Unrelated to Issacson and his team’s research, rumors have circulated amid UFO interest groups on social media suggesting that events might occur in 2027 that will make it a pivotal year for UFO-related developments, potentially even resulting in significant societal change. However, these claims remain unverfied and, for now, appear to be entirely speculative.
Along similar lines, Issacson says the real-life possibility of finding evidence of aliens through signals they might send—particularly as soon as sometime in 2029—remains low. However, it is not impossible, he says, and there may be additional advantages the team’s research could offer.
“While the odds are very low of finding signals from intelligent life at this exact time and location, we hope it also offers inspiration to conduct new searches, inspire scientists (and the public), and think of new ways to search for life beyond the Earth,” Isaacson said.
Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and founder of VOCAB Communications. She hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on The Debrief’s YouTube Channel. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton and at chrissynewton.com.