We’ve Been Looking for Aliens for 70 Years. We've Been Doing It Wrong All Along

For 72 hours, enjoy 15% OFF on all Hoverpens with code PBS, or click the link https://noviumdesign.shop/PBS - Free shipping to most countries. Also on Amazon: https://noviumdesign.shop/crQH4A We’ve been looking for messages from the stars ever since Frank Drake pointed the Green Bank radio telescope at Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridany 65 years ago. He saw nothing that couldn’t be explained by natural causes. Nor have the much more extensive SETI surveys conducted since. So, maybe there are no alien signals to see. Or maybe we need to update how we search for them. We have, after all, learned an awful lot since 1960—both about the galaxy and about observing the galaxy. Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/ Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Matt O'Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producer: Andrew Kornhaber Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: Mike Martin Spacetime is a production of Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios. This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content. © 2026 PBS. All rights reserved. End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By: Big Bang Alexander Tamas Filip Rolenec Juan Benet Kenneth See Mark Rosenthal Matthew Ocko Morgan Hough Peter Barrett Vinnie Falco Daniel Muzquiz Quasar Ethan Cohen Glenn Sugden Grace Biaelcki Justin Lloyd Mark Heising Rad Antonov Shaun Williams Stephen Wilcox Tristan Lucian Claudius Aurelius Tyacke Hypernova Alex Kern Ben Delo Chuck Zegar Dean Galvin Donal Botkin Gregory Forfa Jeff White John R. Slavik Massimiliano Pala PAUL C PEDERSEN Scott Gorlick Scott Gray Spencer Jones Vlad Shipulin Zachary Haberman Антон Кочков Gamma Ray Burst Alex Gan aaron pinto Almog Cohen Anthony Leon Arko Provo Mukherjee Ayden Miller Bradley Jenkins Bradley Ulis Brandon Lattin Brian Cook Chris Liao Christopher Wade Chuck Lukaszewski Collin Dutrow Craig Falls Craig Stonaha Dan Warren Daniel Donahue Daniel Jennings Darrell Stewart David Giltinan David Johnston Doyle Vann Eric Kiebler Eric Raschke Eric Schrenker Faraz Khan Frederic Simon gmmiddleton Harsh Khandhadia Isaac Suttell James Trimmier Jason Bowen Jeb Campbell Jeff Harris Jeremy Soller Jerry Thomas jim bartosh John Anderson John De Witt John Funai John H. Austin, Jr. Joseph Salomone Junaid Ali Kacper Cieśla Kane Holbrook Kent Durham Koen Wilde Kyle Atkinson Lori Ferris Marcelo Garcia Marion Lang Mark Daniel Cohen Mark Delagasse Matt Kaprocki Matt Quinn Matthew Johnson Michael Barton Michael Clark Michael Lev Michael Purcell Mikk Mihkel Nurges Nick Hoffenstoffer III Nicolas Katsantonis Onemind Param Saxena Paul Wood Rad Antonov Reuben Brewer Richard Steenbergen Robert DeChellis Ross Kennedy Ross Story Russell Moore SamSword Sandhya Devi Sean Owen Shane Calimlim SilentGnome Terje Vold Thomas Dougherty Todd J Lerner Tybie Fitzhugh Zac Sweers