It’s not unusual for us to make a phone call attempting to reach someone in particular. But back in 1974, a group of scientists used the Arecibo radio telescope to beam a call to outer space—to no one in particular. This was no ordinary call; it was beamed toward the Hercules star cluster with a power level of 450,000 watts. That’s equivalent to 45,000 typical 10-watt light bulbs. Anyone in the path of that signal with another radio telescope would have seen it as the brightest radio source in the entire galaxy.
What was the point of the call? It was just to advertise our presence on the Earth to anyone who might be listening, essentially saying “Hello…can anybody hear?”
For years, mankind has wondered if there is life elsewhere in the universe. Complex equations have even been drafted up in an admittedly futile attempt to calculate the number of civilizations that could exist in the universe in places other than the Earth. A man by the name of Frank Drake formulated the famous Drake Equation. A major component of that equation is the number of planets in our galaxy that could have conditions just right in order to support life. Modern discoveries have shown that there may well be more planets in the universe than stars! This leads to a tantalizing possibility that the universe could be teeming with life. But, is that the case? Just because it could be, doesn’t mean it is.
One day, a physicist by the name of Enrico Fermi was pondering all the possible places for life to exist. It’s been said that he suddenly leaned back in his chair and asked, “Where is everybody?”
He thought that if our galaxy is filled with lots of places where life can exist, life would have made known its presence by now. But so far, we’ve only heard silence and have only seen nothing. The 1974 call to anybody listening has gone unanswered.
It’s not that no one is listening for a message or reply from space; the large Allen Telescope Array was specifically built for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project. It consists of forty-two radio telescopes, each 20 feet (6 m) in diameter. Project Breakthrough Listen is another program that is aimed at finding advanced life in space. It is the largest-ever program of its kind and has 100 million dollars of funding.
Researchers will be doubling down on efforts, due to new, advanced telescopes and AI-assisted data analysis. One new system in development is the next-gen Very Large Array. It will produce 40 petabytes of data each month—enough to fill 60 million CDs. If those discs were all stacked up, they would reach about 45 miles ( 72 km) high.
The goal is to listen in on potential alien broadcasts or conversations, just as we could do if we would go out into space and turn our antennas back toward the Earth. Our phone, radio, and other broadcasts have not been confined only to the Earth, but have been traveling through space ever since the first broadcast in 1920.
The cover story of the May 2026 issue of Astronomy magazine is about SETI. The possibility of intelligent life existing in the universe is an enticing thought for many secular astronomers, even though no intelligent signal has ever been heard. For an evolutionist who believes trillions of planets have existed in the universe for billions of years, the possibilities seem endless.
Evolutionists are far too optimistic about the random emergence of life, though. It does not just appear on a planet like mold appears on old bread. It takes a special act of creation.
Still, their imaginations are too enticing to pass up. Their thinking could go something like this. If life has been evolving for billions of years, some civilizations could easily be evolved millions of years beyond us. This could have led them to answers to the fundamental questions that vex us today—questions like “How can we tinker with technology without having technology destroy us through wars and fighting?” In essence, “What is the answer for world peace? How can we find the fountain of youth and live forever? How can we restore paradise and live in the maximum ease and comfort our souls long for?”
Ironically, it is not necessary for us to go out there to find extraterrestrial intelligence. A far superior form of “extraterrestrial intelligence” has come to us instead—in the form of God’s own Son, the Creator, not an alien. He brought with Him the key to world peace, eternal life, and restoration of paradise that humanity is desperately searching for! He speaks to us in a still small voice.
The complete silence coming from the vast expanse of outer space carries a loud message that is giving secular astronomers an increasing awareness that we are likely completely alone in this universe.
Thankfully, we can know Earth is a special place. Man was not made for the universe—the universe was made for man, and man was made for his Creator.