SCIENTISTS `PHONED' E.T. 25 YEARS AGO TODAY (NOV. 16)

SCIENTISTS `PHONED' E.T. 25 YEARS AGO TODAY (NOV. 16)

ITHACA, N.Y. (Wireless Flash) -- You probably wouldn't celebrate the 25th anniversary of a phone call that wasn't returned -- but that's what astronomers at the Arecibo Observatory are doing today. On November 16, 1974, astronomers from Columbia University sent a radio signal into space using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. According to Columbia University astronomer Dr. Harold Craft -- who was director of the observatory at the time -- the message was directed toward a group of 300,000 stars known as the "Great Cluster" which is about 25,000 light years away. So far, the message has only traveled 25 light years -- about 147 trillion miles -- and no aliens have responded so far. But Craft isn't giving up hope. He points out that even if a roving band of space aliens were to receive the message today, it will be at least another 25 years before we would get their response.