IS IT MARS?

Taranaki Daily News, 29 January 1920, Page 5

IS IT MARS?

©TRANCE WIRELESS SIGNALS. " 3SHABKABLE POSSIBILITIES. *y I«leg»Biu ! -p reM Attn—Cttpyrfint. London, Jan. 26. JTHfI-Duly Mail gives publicity to « wnwttable statement made by Mr. Marconi, the purport of which is that for some time past wireless operators by «y and night have been puzzled by interruptions, the signals taking the form of meaningless combinations of letters and sounds. They are not confined to •ny country or continent, and are heard eunuttaneously in London and New York. Mr. Mareobi describes the very queer sounds which, from indications at Bight, coma from somewhere outside the earth, .Some letters particularly occur with the greatest frequency. In no case yet hu anything been picked up that is translatable as a definite message. The combinations are of identical intensity, and seem to emanate from the greatest distances. Operators have not the slightest proof of their origin, and they are possibly due to natural electrical disturbances, such as eruptions in the pin.

Aiked if it was possible that another planet was attempting to communicate With, the earth, Mr. Marconi replied: "I cannot rule out the possibility, but there Is no proof. The strange sounds are not confined to any particular period, and are frequent by day and night. The phenomena Were first noticed before the .war, which su*pended further investigation as to the cause."

The Daily Mail, discussing the sun theory in relation to Mr. Marconi's statement, says it is difficult to see in that case why special letters should occur with special frequency. Regarding the other two possible sources, the Moon and Mars, the paper quotes Professor Boddy'g theory that the Moon is not dead. Professor Pickering caused extraordinary fcltemt in America by a recent announcement that he saw signs of life pn the Moon. Discussing Lowell's and other theories fn reference to the existence of life in Mars, the Mail asks: "Are we on the threshold of the most tremendous discovery of the human race, that somewhere in what has been thought of as the vast interminable emptiness of space pther beings exist!" THE SOUNDS DESCRIBED. » NO COMPLETE MESSAGE. Received Jan. 29, 1.25 a.m. London, Jan. 27. Mr. Marconi's interesting speculation is keenly discussed. Sir Frank Dvson, the astronomer, says reception waves from other planets are quite possible, hilt he adds that he is unwilling at present to venture a further opinion. Mr. Marconi, interviewed, amplified his •tatementa. He describes the sounds as ivery persistent, when the operators use wave* of a hundred kilometres three and four times the length ordinarily required for commercial wirelessing. They are curious musical sounds, often three"short fr»r". and are translatable into several letters. , It will presently be necessary to emphasise that people should not jump to conclusions that the sounds are signals, »s nothing in the nature of a message has yet been picked up. The company's operators have been asked to supply derailed reports.—United Service.

. Mats, Which is the fourth planet from the swt, at times comes within 35J million miles.of the earth. The atmosphere is thin, and usually transparent. The general surface is reddish, but threeeighths of it is covered by blue-green tracts. They were long regarded as seas, but are now thought by many to repre•eat areas of vegetation. They are connected by an intricate network of canals, some of which appear at times be double. In May, 1905, Lowell issued a bulletin, With photographs of Mars, which he claimed. an corroborating the objective existence of the canals, and in 1910 he claimed to have discovered new, i.e., recently constructed,' canals on the plapet.