Dr. Eltjo Haselhoff —
Chilbolton Crop Circles
A ‘Quantum Leap' In Design
YOWUSA.COM, 31-August-01
Marshall Masters and James van der Worp
…Continued
3rd Objection — Unintended Audience
The SETI Institute Online
Is the Latest Crop Circle
a Message from E.T?
Continued...
The 1974 signal was aimed at the cluster M13, which has hundreds of thousands of stars. Of course, M13 is
25,000 light-years distant, which means that the message will not reach its target for another 250 centuries. Clearly, the crop circle can't be a response from any of M13's inhabitants; they haven't gotten the
message yet. But what about a random, Milky Way star that might be in the "beam" of the Arecibo message? Couldn't they have overheard the transmission, and offered this clever carving in reply? No. The Arecibo
beam at 2,380 MHz is about 2 arcminutes, which is roughly 1/15th the diameter of the full moon.
Once a message is sent, no assumption as to who intercepts that message when then intercept it and where they intercept it is valid. Case in point is
the Battle of Midway during WWII.
Unbeknownst to the Japanese, American code breakers had deciphered the JN25 communication code used by the Japanese. As a result the
Japanese Navy lost 4 aircraft carriers Battle of Midway. This decisive battle proved to be the practical end of the Japanese Navy as an offensive naval force and sealed Japan's fate.
Also, Admiral Yamamoto, the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor died because for the same reason, when his flight plans were transmitted with the
JN25 code. The message was intercepted, and American fighters shot down his airplane. The state funeral that followed showed his death to be a terrible blow to the Japanese war effort.
The point here is that the 1974 Arecibo message was sent in the "clear" which means that it was not encrypted. Where, when, or by whom it was
intercepted is out SETI's control, just like the JN25 coded transmissions sent by the Japanese during WWII.
By refusing to accept this simple logic, SETI is making the same kind of wrong-headed mistakes as the Japanese during WWII, by allowing their
uninformed assumptions to form their opinions.
This line of reasoning cost the Japanese four aircraft carriers at Midway and Admiral Yamamoto and much more. Yet, SETI has adopted this line of
reasons hook like and sinker, and given it the exalted title of "good science."
4th Objection — Alien DNA
The SETI Institute Online
Is the Latest Crop Circle
a Message from E.T?
Continued...
The biochemistry information in the crop circle is the same as the Arecibo message, although the DNA seems to
have an extra strand and a somewhat different number of nucleotides. It has also been noted that silicon is now indicated as part of the biological construction kit, although this element, while popular in science
fiction, is rather poor at making the complex molecules required for life.
That is, life as we know it. But then, what do we really know?
In reading this, the first thing that comes to mind is the question: Are radio astronomers cross-trained and competent genetic researchers AND
astrobiologists as well? (Wow, talk about job security!)
Again, it appears that SETI has fallen prey to a myopic Inquisition-style view of the cosmos. As before, isn't SETI stepping a bit outside of its own field
of here as well?
5th Objection — Why Are They Avoiding the USA?
The SETI Institute Online
Is the Latest Crop Circle
a Message from E.T?
Continued...
Finally, the whole matter of crop circles fails the baloney test, as Sagan would put it. They can be easily
(and quickly) made by people interested in creating a stir, and there is never any convincing physical evidence that anyone else has made them. You might also wonder why, despite its ample supply of wheat fields,
the U.S. is almost never the target of this type of alien graphic: nearly two-thirds of all crop circles are in England (only one major one has appeared in the U.S. We also note that Chilbolton was the location of
other crop circles in 1999 and 2000.) Why would aliens resort to a signaling system that conveys so little information and can only be used during the growing season (and at night)?
An immediate question pops into mind. Given that Sagan is dead, did the SETI author have a seance with a crystal ball, in order to get Sagan's
agreement on this? Perhaps SETI in contact with the dead?
But more to the point, the English are far more open about reporting information that America, with its provincial view of the world blithely ignores.
Assuming you communicating on behalf of an advanced civilization wouldn't you want to communicate your ideas to a nation that is more likely to freely
report that information to its own citizens and to the world at large.
Turn on any TV in America and what do you see; endless stories about sexual trysts and peccadilloes. Turn on the TV in England, and BBC will
show what is happening in the world.
Simply put, if you wanted to get a message out to the world, would you choose the All Monica All Day networks in America, or the BBC?
The Wonderful Opportunity SETI Is Missing
With a single deft move, SETI could set itself up for the grandest win-win maneuver imaginable.
In the section, 3rd Objection — Unintended Audience above, we learned that America dealt Japan a heavy blow at Midway. But, in all the messages sent
by the Japanese prior to that attack, they never once mentioned the name of the island. Rather then used a simple code, which could have been used to describe any number of islands.
The American code breakers need to know which island, and they suspected it would be Midway. So, they instructed Midway to send a
message in the clear (no encryption) stating that their water processing equipment had broken, and that they were running out of fresh water.
When the Japanese who intercepted this message relayed the information in code to the homeland, the Americans knew the code did in fact represent
Midway Island. And the rest as they say is history.
Let's assume that the crop circles are real. If SETI transmits another message similar to the 1974 Arecibo message with a hidden context, they
could either establish formal contact with another race, or they will be able to completely debunk the notion of crop circles completely. Either way, they
will enjoy a PR bonanza and the dollars will flow.
In the final analysis let's paraphrase SETI's own statement, "We can expect better from true extraterrestrial intelligence" to make the real point here.
We can expect better from true SETI intelligence.
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