NASA Picked Up a Signal From Deep Space in 1977… No One Knows Where It Came From 👽

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]In 1977, [music] astronomers picked up a signal from deep space. It lasted only 72 seconds, then it vanished. And to this [music] day, no one knows what it was.

[00:00:12]August 15th, [music] 1977, the Big Ear radio telescope in Ohio was scanning deep space like any other night. [music] Then it picked up something that had never been detected before. The signal was [music] 30 times stronger than the normal background noise of space, and it matched the exact radio [music] frequency that scientists believed alien civilizations would most likely [music] use to communicate. Days later, astronomer Jerry Ehman was reviewing stacks of printed data. He spotted the signal, circled it, and wrote a single word in the margin, "Wow."

[00:00:50]But here's [music] the thing, after those 72 seconds, the signal was never [music] detected again.

[00:00:57]Scientists have spent nearly 50 years searching for an explanation.

[00:01:02]Satellites, [music] comets, interstellar clouds, nothing fully fits. Where did it come from? Who sent it? And why only [music] once? The Wow signal remains the greatest unsolved mystery in astronomy.

[00:01:17]Follow because the universe still has a lot [music] more secrets to give up.