Weird Universe points us to an event that took place in mid-August 1924 in the US that reminds us this other potential coordinated effort to make astronomical observations more successful and reminds how 
from the earliest days of the communication medium, forerunners like Guglielmo Marconi, Lord Kelvin and Nikola Tesla believed that radio transmissions could be exchanged with extraterrestrial civilisations, the existence of intelligent life on Mars being widely accepted. With the Red Planet approaching its closest point to the Earth for nearly eight decades, scientists at the Naval Observatory used a blimp to lift a “radio-camera” to an altitude of three kilometres and arranging with broadcasters along the eastern seaboard to observe an hourly five-minutes’ cessation of transmissions in order to eliminate interference from terrestrial sources and increase the chance of intercepting a message from Martians. Military cryptologists were on stand-by to decipher any alien signals.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit plus Last Christmas
two years ago: Gingerbread Dreamhouses, artist Brad Holland plus more links to enjoy
three years ago: more links worth the revisit, Esperanto Day plus Trivial Pursuit
four years ago: more links, the Nobel banquet plus Lisztomania (1975)
five years ago: even more links, the mythos of Zermatism, Wort des Jahres plus early Home Office
