Wow signal or great forgetfulness

Today the topic of searching for extraterrestrial life, including intelligent, including extraterrestrial civilizations, is popular. Humanity builds huge antennas, launches telescope satellites, peers, listens attentively to near and far space in search of, among other things, signs of intelligent life, hoping to catch the signal from the “older brothers”. We are looking for different solutions to the Drake equation , we pretend that a couple of millions of years should be enough for everyone to colonize the galaxy, trembling before the concept of the Great Filter . And all in one voice we ask “Where is everyone? If there are other civilizations, why can't we detect their signs? ”

And it seems that almost no one knows, does not remember, or does not attach importance to what we actually see them! More precisely - they saw, on the 15th of August 1977. It was on that day that the Big Ear radio telescope in Ohio, as part of the SETI project, recorded a signal whose source was outside the Solar System. The signal is called “Wow! signal ”at the exclamation written on the printout of the radio telescope readings. You can read about it in the corresponding article on Wikipedia . In order not to copy it here completely, I will quote only the most significant phrase in the context of the article.
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Different methods for determining the signal frequency gave two values: 1420.356 MHz (JD Kraus) and 1420.456 MHz (JR Ehman), both within 50 kHz of the frequency of the neutral hydrogen radio link (1420.406 MHz, or 21 cm.)

At this point, let us return to the sources of the SETI project and recall how scientists were going to look for extraterrestrial civilizations and, accordingly, how to let them know about our existence. In 1959, physicists Giuseppe Kokkoni and Philip Morrison concluded that the very same hydrogen radio link with a frequency of 1420.406 MHz and a wavelength of 21 cm was used as the natural standard of frequency. It is highly likely that other civilizations, if they exist and wish to communicate, will choose the same frequency for interstellar communications.

As a result, in 1977, humanity receives a signal at a frequency on which, most likely, other intelligent civilizations would have made themselves known. No explanation was found for the origin of the signal, except for its artificial nature. According to calculations, in order to produce such a signal, a transmitting civilization needs to have a transmitter with a capacity of about 2 gigawatts, which is a thousand times more than the most powerful terrestrial transmitter can produce. This may indicate that the transmitting civilization is much more developed or at least has more energy resources than the earth, since it can spend so much energy on broadcasting "nowhere."

Unfortunately, since 1977, a similar signal has not been re-caught. Most likely, this indicates that the transmitting civilization, although more developed than ours, still has its limitations and “signals” to different parts of space for a short time, so that sooner or later they will be discovered and “signaled” in response. Humanity, by the way, is not in debt. In 2012, on the 35th anniversary of the Wow signal, the Arecibo Observatory, located in Puerto Rico, sent 10,000 coded messages from Twitter in the direction from which the signal was received in 1977.

However, now, almost 40 years after the reception of the “Wow” signal, few seem to know about it. Scientists have not managed to explain its origin by natural causes or catch it again to prove its artificiality. Mention of him is found as if it is something passing that they saw, could not explain, and as superfluous forgotten on the far shelf of science. And with each subsequent discussion, we all wonder together - “Where is everything, why do we not hear anyone ?”, Although we clearly heard “ someone ”.

Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow ! _signal
L.M. Hindilis "SETI: The Search for Extraterrestrial Mind"