Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Technology and Religion
Is ETI crying wolf?

Is ETI crying wolf?

Last updated on: October 1, 2022 at 4:32 pm by Ted Peters

Is ETI crying wolf? 2022-10-01T16:32:03-07:00 Ted Peters

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is ETI Crying “Wolf”?

Is SETI Contact just around the Corner?

China’s FAST: five hundred meter aperture telescope

SETI contact? As of this date, we earthlings have not detected any technosignals revealing an extraterrestrial civilization. Or, have we?

Chinese sky ears have heard transient radio signals from deep space. Are they being sent to Earth from alien transmitters?

Time after time when intriguing signals have been picked up by radio receivers on Earth and analyzed, we get disappointed. Like the boy who cried “wolf” in Aesop’s fables, when protecting his sheep, the first responders expect to confront a real wolf. So, we expect to confront a real off-Earth civilization. But, alas, we get disappointed again and again.

SETI hears radio signals calling “wolf” when there is no wolf. My advice? Keep hope alive. Keep listening for SETI contact.

This will be an exercise in astrotheology, which in turn is an exercise in public theology. Our scientists and our potential new neighbors in space are very public.

Chinese Ears are Listening

SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) researchers around the world use radio astronomy to listen for signals indicating an intelligent source. Listening technology in China has taken a leap forward. Chinese scientists have made operational a five-hundred-meter aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST) and nicknamed it “Sky Eye.” Dr. Zhi-Song Zhang proudly announced that FAST identifies and ranks narrowband candidates for extraterrestrial signals. It scores candidates by the number of times a specific signal is seen at roughly the same sky position, same frequency, signal strength, and proximity to a nearby star of object of interest.

Zhang has reported that data regarding an exoplanet gathered in 2019 and analyzed in 2020 have exhibited “intriguing signals” that could be from ETI. America’s UAP Task Force has taken the data seriously.

Startled by this news, I quickly contacted some of my science colleagues, requesting their assessment of the Chinese report. Seth Shostak, a SETI Institute astronomer, zipped me an email saying, “My bet is they’re satellite transmitters. They’re EVERYWHERE.”

I also contacted Margaret Race, a SETI Institute astrobiologist. Marg’s research is primarily the search for microbial life within the solar system.

Marg zipped me an article from Futurism whose headline that makes her point. “Sorry, but New Signal is Definitely Not Aliens.” Citing Daniel Wertheimer at the University of California at Berkeley, the article continued. “The signals that we found so far are all [radio frequency] interference, they’re not from extraterrestrials, they’re from terrestrials.”

So, alas, false alarm in China. The boy had called “Wolf!” But, of course, there is no wolf here. Is it time to get discouraged? No, not yet.

In addition, Dr. Race tells me that astronomers have detected fast radio bursts (FRBs) coming from a magnetar in the Milky Way. Observations have been reported in major journals such as Nature Astronomy and Science. And, on On April 28, 2020, two telescopes in North America–the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and the U.S. Survey for Transient Astronomical Radio Emission 2 (STARE2) picked up a powerful millisecond-duration burst in our Milky Way. Are these real wolves or fake wolves calling?

Don’t give up hope for SETI contact too soon!

Dr. Race adds, “ Every new bit of data is subject to interpretation, with scientists continuing to debate whether it’s a natural phenomenon–or a deliberate technological signal.” This story is not over. There just might be a new space neighbor ringing our telephone! Sooner or later, SETI contact will be with a real wolf.

Don’t give up hope for SETI contact too soon!

Postscript: SETI contact and Public Theology

In these Patheos posts on astrotheology, I have contended that the public theologian develop a theology of nature based upon the best science. And, a theology of nature includes speculations about extraterrestrial life. Because the science of astrobiology along with the less respected yet still very important UFO phenomenon both have an enormous effect on our worldview, the public theologian should be applying a theology of culture to what is happening in both the sciences and the wider culture. Astrobiology–the almost already religious science because space elicits such a sense of awe–leads to astrotheology on the part of the public theologian. Please expect from me a constant monitoring of excitement over the prospects of sharing our cosmos with extraterrestrial neighbors, both microbial and intelligent.

▓

Ted Peters hopes to meet extraterrestrial neighbors either through SETI contact or UFO visitation. Peters is an emeritus professor at the Graduate Theological Union, where he co-edits the journal, Theology and Science, on behalf of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, in Berkeley, California, USA. He authored Playing God? Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom? (Routledge, 2nd ed., 2002) as well as Science, Theology, and Ethics (Ashgate 2003). Along with Martinez Hewlett, Joshua Moritz, and Robert John Russell, he co-edited, Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2018). Along with Octavio Chon Torres, Joseph Seckbach, and Russell Gordon, he co-edited, Astrobiology: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy (Scrivener 2021). He is also author of UFOs: God’s Chariots? Spirituality, Ancient Aliens, and Religious Yearnings in the Age of Extraterrestrials (Career Press New Page Books, 2014). See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com.

▓

Catholic

Contemplative

Eastern Orthodox

Evangelical

General Christian

Technology and Religion

ETI

Evangelical

Hermeneutics

progressive Christian

About Ted Peters

Ted Peters hopes to meet extraterrestrial neighbors either through SETI contact or UFO visitation. Peters is an emeritus professor at the Graduate Theological Union, where he co-edits the journal, Theology and Science, on behalf of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, in Berkeley, California, USA. He authored Playing God? Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom? (Routledge, 2nd ed., 2002) as well as Science, Theology, and Ethics (Ashgate 2003). Along with Martinez Hewlett, Joshua Moritz, and Robert John Russell, he co-edited, Astrotheology: Science and Theology Meet Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2018). Along with Octavio Chon Torres, Joseph Seckbach, and Russell Gordon, he co-edited, Astrobiology: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy (Scrivener 2021). He is also author of UFOs: God's Chariots? Spirituality, Ancient Aliens, and Religious Yearnings in the Age of Extraterrestrials (Career Press New Page Books, 2014). See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

June 14, 2022

Religious Transhumanism 14. Is it Scientific?

Next Post

June 23, 2022 The Public Theology of Jennifer Hockenbery

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Afterlife America in Crisis Ancient Alien Apocalypse Art Artificial Intelligence Astrobiology Astrotheology Atheism Big History Buddhist Catholic Christian Nationalism Christmas Comparative Theology Death Ecology Ethics ETI Evangelical Evolution Existential Questions Free Will General Christian Hermeneutics Hindu https://www.patheos.com/blogs/allsetfree/2020/12/sins-we-need-to-talk-about/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Christians+For+a+Better+Christianity&utm_content=43&lct Interreligious Islam Jewish Justice Latter-Day Saints Literature Literature and Theology Lutheran Methodism Mormonism Nonreligious ontology Orthodox Pagam Prayer progressive Christian PT 6 Dignity Public Theology Race racial justice Religious Liberty Romance Satan Scapegoat Science & Religion Science and Religion social justice Spirituality SR 8 Transhumanism Systematic Theology Taoism Ted Peters UAP UFO Uncategorized War

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What character trait is praised in the Parable of the Good Samaritan?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Selfishness Deceit Pride Compassion