October 30, 1998: Ghost to Ghost 1998 | EQ Pegasi - Richard C. Hoagland & Seth Shostak
The evening takes a dramatic turn when Art breaks in with developing news about a possible signal from the EQ Pegasi star system. A second independent confirmation arrives from a radio amateur in Guernsey, who reports detecting a narrow-band signal at 1453.8273 megahertz that appears and disappears when his dish is moved on and off the target coordinates. Richard C. Hoagland joins to reveal that the original anonymous engineer, now identified as Paul Doerr, is a credentialed radar specialist with British aerospace firms.
SETI astronomer Seth Shostak weighs in with cautious skepticism, noting the signal could be terrestrial interference entering through antenna side lobes. He acknowledges interest but offers to bet a double latte that this is not first contact. Hoagland proposes the signal may originate from a decelerating interstellar probe rather than the distant star itself, calculating an approach speed of roughly 4,000 miles per second based on the apparent Doppler shift.
Key Moments
Hoagland: hoax or real interstellar probe: Hoagland tells Art the EQ Pegasi signal is either an elaborate hoax or a real interstellar probe inbound at roughly 4,000 miles per second, about 2-3% the speed of light, and predicts it will arrive within a month or so.
EQ Pegasi at 19.5 degrees declination: Hoagland notes that EQ Pegasi sits at 19.5 degrees north declination with right ascension of 23h30m - coordinates he says are uniquely intrinsic to Earth's tetrahedral geometry.
Shostak's double-latte bet against ET: SETI's Seth Shostak, woken in the middle of the night, walks through why the signal looks suspect - small dish, anonymous source, edited GIFs, side-lobe interference - and bets any listener a double latte that this is not ET calling.