A switchboard operator and a DJ in a small
town in the 1950s discover strange,
potentially alien, audio signal that leads
them on a wild investigation
to find its origins. 
This is the plot for The Vast of Night,
which is now streaming
on Amazon Prime Video.
Could our first contact with
aliens be as simple
as a radio signal from
aliens saying, “Hi?”
The renowned scientists who invented the
radio believed they received 
precisely that early in their experiments,
while the scientists of today 
spend millions to listen in
on radio signals from space
hoping to hear that first transmission
from an extraterrestrial civilization.
A complicated debate rages as to who first
invented the radio. 
On the U.S. side is Nikola Tesla,
the famous inventor 
who is the namesake for Elon Musk’s Tesla
electric vehicle company.
Representing the Europeans
is Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi.
Both were pioneers in developing
radio communication...
and both claimed to have possibly received
radio signals from aliens.
In an article titled “Talking with the 
Planets” for Collier’s Weekly in 1901,
Tesla claimed he received
strange signals while experimenting
with radio at his lab in
Colorado Springs in 1899:
Whether the signal was from aliens or not
(Tesla suspected it would
likely be Martians)
the technology he was working on
would have the potential 
to be used to communicate distances as
vast as those between the planets 
in our solar system. 
This may have been the first time 
anyone used the
“I am not saying it’s aliens, but…” line.
Marconi shared his alien signal encounter
in an article in 1920.
Marconi seemed more certain than Tesla
that his encounter
was an alien communication. 
Another famous inventor of the time,
Thomas Edison,
agreed with Marconi’s speculation.
Edison didn’t stop there.
He went on to argue that there must be
other intelligent life out there.
Tesla also shared the fact that he had
a similar experience.
These were not the only famous scientists
to chime on on Marconi’s experience.
Albert Einstein himself was asked 
for his thoughts as well:
Marconi’s speculation that he had sought
alien signals had quite an effect.
In 1924, the Secretary of the Navy felt
that the close approach of Mars
would be an opportune time to
listen in for signals from Martians.
He sent out a telegram asking
radio stations to listen in.
Although Einstein suggested looking for
light signals (lasers)
rather than listening to
radio waves to search for alien signals,
radio waves still became the
predominant method used.
Will aliens send us a signal on the radio?
Some believe perhaps they already have!
But we have yet to receive
a confirmed communication.
As for the characters
in The Vast of Night,
if they believe they caught
an alien signal, they’re in good company.
The Vast of Night is now streaming 
on Amazon Prime.
