Wildfires raging in Northern California briefly halted the search for extraterrestrial life on Tuesday.
Quite possibly one of the best news headlines ever to appear on CNN..
But the real news is this: For those not aware, tremendous wildfires are burning and raging in California, the home of SETI. A fire was near SETI, about 200 miles north of Sacramento.
CNN goes on to report:
At SETI — which stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence — scientists search the heavens for signs of extraterrestrial life by “listening” with an array of small satellite dishes.
The blaze came within a mile of the facility, located near Hat Creek, California, on both the east and west, according to Shostak.
"The fire on the west had jumped the road, burnt down our favorite lunch place, got within a mile of the telescopes," he said. As the flames got closer, the staff fled to safer ground and shut down the satellites.
"We just lost some search hours," he said. "To expect that E.T. will somehow reach out at this moment, that would be very bizarre."
That is the amazing part.. imagine the irony if this moment, when computers were abandoned and no one was home, ET phoned earth?
Strangers things may have happened. Or not. That we know of.
California wildfires temporarily suspend search for aliens
