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Evidence Dossier

Legacy category: Sensory and Acoustic Anomaly

The Big Ear Wow! Signal: 1977 Radio Anomaly

Evidence Dossier: A record proves that a statement, transfer, examination, or result was documented. It does not automatically prove the anomalous interpretation attached to it.
OverviewEvidenceTimelineAnalysisSources
1977-08-15, 1994, 1997
Ohio State University Radio Observatory, Delaware, Ohio
7/10
7/10
A powerful, narrowband radio signal was detected at the hydrogen line frequency in 1977, but its origin remains unexplained and it has never been detected again.
Strong contemporaneous computer printout and detailed primary retrospective analysis by the discoverer, with major limits because the signal was transient and could not be reproduced.

Investigative Assessments

"The reported claim remains worth testing against the record: A powerful, narrowband radio signal was detected at the hydrogen line frequency in 1977, but its origin remains unexplained and it has never been detected again. The strongest documented reasons to keep the file open are: The Big Ear Wow! Signal: What We Know and Don't Know About It After 20 Years: Provides full mathematical derivation of the coordinates, frequency, and antenna pattern analysis; Explanation of the Code 6EQUJ5 on the Wow! Computer Printout: Explains how the alphanumeric characters correspond to standard deviation signal-to-noise ratios. Key unresolved lead: What physical source or location produced the 6EQUJ5 signal."
"Evidentiary limitations: Strong contemporaneous computer printout and detailed primary retrospective analysis by the discoverer, with major limits because the signal was transient and could not be reproduced. Note that: The Big Ear Wow! Signal: What We Know and Don't Know About It After 20 Years fails to support: Does not provide the original physical printout sheet; Explanation of the Code 6EQUJ5 on the Wow! Computer Printout fails to support: Does not explain the physical origin of the signal. Documented contradiction: The signal matched the antenna pattern suggesting a space source, but it was only detected by one of the two horns. Leading conventional hypothesis: Terrestrial radio frequency interference reflected off space debris"

Case Summary

On August 15, 1977, the Ohio State University Big Ear radio telescope detected a strong, narrowband radio signal near the 1420 MHz hydrogen line. Volunteer Jerry Ehman discovered the signal sequence 6EQUJ5 on a computer printout and marked it with a handwritten Wow! comment. The signal was observed for the full 72-second window permitted by the telescope's design as the earth rotated, but subsequent monitoring failed to detect it again. The signal's origin remains unexplained.

Evidence Locker

3 inspectable evidence items. Claims and source findings are kept separate.

Complete technical report Local copy hash-verified Complete source

The Big Ear Wow! Signal: What We Know and Don't Know About It After 20 Years

Analyst rating: Primary technical analysis by the discoverer

“The Wow! source radio emission entered the receiver of the Big Ear radio telescope at about 11:16 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time on August 15, 1977.”
Record locationComplete document
Evidence classscientific analysis
Relationship to claimPrimary technical record of the event.
Authenticity assessmentAuthoritative report by the discoverer.
What this supportsProvides full mathematical derivation of the coordinates, frequency, and antenna pattern analysis.
What it does not supportDoes not provide the original physical printout sheet.
ProvenanceDr. Jerry Ehman's 1997 report hosted on the official Big Ear observatory archive.
Chain of custodyRetrieved from the bigear.org server to local storage.
Source completenessComplete. Complete report text retrieved.
Known gaps: No known completeness gaps recorded.
Open Complete Source (Local HTML Media) Download Copy Canonical Agency Record
Technical explanation document Local copy hash-verified Complete source

Explanation of the Code 6EQUJ5 on the Wow! Computer Printout

Analyst rating: Explanation of the signal-to-noise ratio coding method

“Each of the first 50 columns of the computer printout shows the successive values of intensity (or power) received from the Big Ear radio telescope”
Record locationComplete document
Evidence classscientific analysis
Relationship to claimExplains the central telemetry code.
Authenticity assessmentAuthoritative explanation by the discoverer.
What this supportsExplains how the alphanumeric characters correspond to standard deviation signal-to-noise ratios.
What it does not supportDoes not explain the physical origin of the signal.
ProvenanceDr. Jerry Ehman's explanation document hosted on the official Big Ear observatory archive.
Chain of custodyRetrieved from the bigear.org server to local storage.
Source completenessComplete. Complete explanation text retrieved.
Known gaps: No known completeness gaps recorded.
Open Complete Source (Local HTML Media) Download Copy Canonical Agency Record
Newspaper article Local copy hash-verified Complete source

The Wow! Signal Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine Article

Analyst rating: Retrospective news summary with discoverer interview

“As he had done a thousand times, Jerry Ehman glanced over the Big Ear's computer printouts, not really expecting to find anything unusual.”
Record locationComplete article
Evidence classhistorical newspaper investigation
Relationship to claimDocuments historical discovery context and public reaction.
Authenticity assessmentArchived copy of published newspaper article.
What this supportsContains quotes from Jerry Ehman and context on local public reactions.
What it does not supportDoes not contain peer-reviewed scientific analysis.
ProvenanceCleveland Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine article from September 18, 1994, archived on bigear.org.
Chain of custodyRetrieved from bigear.org server to local storage.
Source completenessComplete. Complete article text retrieved.
Known gaps: No known completeness gaps recorded.
Open Complete Source (Local HTML Media) Download Copy Canonical Agency Record

Documented Timeline

  • August 15, 1977: The Big Ear radio telescope detects the 6EQUJ5 signal in channel 2.
  • August 1977: Jerry Ehman discovers the sequence on a computer printout and writes Wow! in the margin.
  • September 18, 1994: The Cleveland Plain Dealer publishes an anniversary article on the event.
  • September 1, 1997: Jerry Ehman completes the first draft of his 20th anniversary report.

Named Participants and Roles

  • Dr. Jerry R. Ehman, Astronomer and Big Ear volunteer who discovered the signal. Account basis: Contemporaneous. Witness quality: High. Directly discovered the printout, annotated it, and conducted the primary mathematical and astronomical analyses. Evidence: wow_ehman_report, wow_6equj5_explanation

Contradictions and Record Conflicts

  • The signal matched the antenna pattern suggesting a space source, but it was only detected by one of the two horns.
  • The frequency was near the protected 1420 MHz line, which is reserved for astronomy, yet terrestrial transmitters sometimes breach these bands.

Conventional Explanations

  • Terrestrial radio frequency interference reflected off space debris
    Evidence for: Explains why the signal was only heard once and did not reappear in subsequent sweeps.
    Limits: Reflecting a signal that matches the 72-second sidereal sweep at exactly 1420 MHz requires highly improbable coincidences.
    Evidence: wow_ehman_report, wow_plain_dealer

Evidence Stance Matrix

HypothesisStanceRationaleEvidence IDs
The signal was a transmission from an extraterrestrial beacon.InconclusiveThe signal's narrowband nature, frequency near the hydrogen line, and match to the antenna pattern are consistent with a beacon, but the lack of repetition makes this unprovable.wow_ehman_report, wow_6equj5_explanation
The signal was terrestrial radio frequency interference reflected off space debris.MixedTerrestrial transmitters are common, but reflecting a signal that perfectly matches the 72-second sidereal sweep at 1420 MHz requires highly improbable coincidences.wow_ehman_report
The signal was a rare natural astrophysical phenomenon, such as a comet or stellar flare.ChallengesNatural astronomical sources are typically broadband rather than the extremely narrow 10 kHz signal observed.wow_ehman_report

Missing Evidence

  • Raw digitized magnetic tape records from the IBM 1130 computer during the August 15, 1977 run
    Would permit modern reprocessing of the background noise and signal-to-noise ratios.

What Remains Unresolved

  • The failure to reproduce or detect the signal in over four decades of monitoring
    The signal was transient and no active source has been identified at those coordinates.

Investigative Hypotheses

  • The signal was a transmission from an extraterrestrial beacon.
  • The signal was terrestrial radio frequency interference reflected off space debris.
  • The signal was a rare natural astrophysical phenomenon, such as a comet or stellar flare.

Open Questions

  • What physical source or location produced the 6EQUJ5 signal.
  • Why the signal was only detected by one of the telescope's two feed horns.
  • Why the signal has never been reproduced despite decades of monitoring.

Archival Landing Pages and Evidence Corpus

The Big Ear Wow! Signal: What We Know and Don't Know About It After 20 Years

Scientific Analysis Local Source Verified

External URL: http://www.bigear.org/wow20th.htm

Open Local Artifact (HTML Document) · Download Copy

Explanation of the Code 6EQUJ5 on the Wow! Computer Printout

Scientific Analysis Local Source Verified

External URL: http://www.bigear.org/6equj5.htm

Open Local Artifact (HTML Document) · Download Copy

The Wow! Signal Cleveland Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine Article

Historical Newspaper Investigation Local Source Verified

External URL: http://www.bigear.org/wow.htm

Open Local Artifact (HTML Document) · Download Copy