14 Years & A Signal , A Collaborative Timeline

POD: On August 28, 2001, the world was changed when radio astronomers at Chilbolton, England and Arecibo, Puerto Rico reported an alien radio signal which appears to be a response to a radio signal sent in 1977.

See: http://alienresearch.wikia.com/wiki/Arecibo_Response

The mission is to show how history would be altered by the singular event being actually being believed.

Shouldn't this go in Alien Space Bats?
Anyway...

September 1st, 2001: The researchers at Chilbolton and Arecibo confirm that the signal is an extraterrestrial radio signal. They also state that they will translate the signal. Researchers, including Jill Tarter, Frank Drake, and the aging Phillip Morrison, go to Arecibo to advise the translation.

September 11th, 2001: A minor check at Portland International Airport leads to the arrest of Mohammed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari. One plane crashes into the World Trade Center, and another at the Pentagon. A third attempted hijacking is foiled by the passengers, who subdue them, and the plane lands safely in Pennsylvania.

Mr.E said:

Shouldn't this go in Alien Space Bats?
Anyway...

September 1st, 2001: The researchers at Chilbolton and Arecibo confirm that the signal is an extraterrestrial radio signal. They also state that they will translate the signal. Researchers, including Jill Tarter, Frank Drake, and the aging Phillip Morrison, go to Arecibo to advise the translation.

September 11th, 2001: A minor check at Portland International Airport leads to the arrest of Mohammed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari. One plane crashes into the World Trade Center, and another at the Pentagon. A third attempted hijacking is foiled by the passengers, who subdue them, and the plane lands safely in Pennsylvania.

Click to expand...

This looks great! While the topic may seem unusual, there will be no extraterrestrial landings, FTL development, or the other tropes of first contact. All that has changed is the certainty that we are not alone in the universe...

May 5, 2003: Nuwabian cult members, including actor Wesley Snipes, enter into an armed standoff in Putnam County, Georgia,...

January 26th, 2003: Space Shuttle Columbia launches. On board is a SETI communicator, that could receive Radio waves from Space, indisturbed by atmosphere. At the same time, it is forced to stay at the ISS, when it is revealed a piece of foam fell out of its side. It was replaced.

February 1st, 2003: Columbia lands safely in Texas.

Mr.E said:

January 26th, 2003: Space Shuttle Columbia launches. On board is a SETI communicator, that could receive Radio waves from Space, indisturbed by atmosphere. At the same time, it is forced to stay at the ISS, when it is revealed a piece of foam fell out of its side. It was replaced.

February 1st, 2003: Columbia lands safely in Texas.

Click to expand...

I almost forgot about Columbia. In the meantime, what pop culture twists will tale place because of the news?

September 20th, 2002: Firefly debuts on the Fox Network. Due to Arecibo, an alien character is added to the cast.

December 20th, 2002: Fox cancels Firefly, leaving 3 of the fourteen produced episodes unaired.

February 14th, 2002: Due to the strong fan reaction, Fox brings Firefly back on the air. Ironically, the controversy ends up increasing viewership, and by the end, it is revived for a second season. It would go on to have four seasons.

Here are a few PODs to show that the ATL will continue to change:

October 7, 2003: California Lieutenant-Governor Cruz Bustamante is named governor of California in the special election, with growing resentment to ENRON becoming an issue,....

October 27, 2005: Bloggers led by the Huffington Post report that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has been implicated in a sexual abuse scandal from Yorkville, Illinois,.....

March 19, 2006: Russian Foreign Minister announces the annexation of Belarus, upon a signed agreement between President Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, sparking tensions across NATO and European Union nations,....

May 10, 2006: Representatives John Conyers (D-MI) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) launch impeachment hearings against the White House in Washington D.C.,.....

March 22, 2012: Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang is announced as the new Chinese Premier and Chinese Foreign Minister in a press conference in Wang Lijun, fueling concerns about the Chinese government,....

September 18, 2014: Scottish independence referendum wins with a 55.3% approval by the electorate, sparking international attention,....

October 7th, 2001: US troops enter Afganistan...

October 16th, 2002: George Bush commissions the "Space Council" to discuss the reaction of the Space program based off of Arecibo. The Council consists of several SETI researchers, as well as Hayden Planetarium director, Neil deGrasse Tyson.

January 14th, 2002: With Jill Tarter and Neil Tyson in attendence, President Bush unveils the "Vision for Space Exploration," which will detail the next ten years of Space exploration, including probes for Mars and Venus, a manned return to the Moon, and new radio communications satellites. The most ambitious is a probe for Saturn's moon Titan.

March 9th, 2003: A planned invasion of Iraq is scrapped, due to a hint on the location of Osama bin Laden....

October 1, 2001: The alien signal renews interest in Artisan's The Mighty Thor television series, which they adapt to the new interest in aliens and push through production (past their also planned Captain America movie).

September 20, 2002: The Mighty Thor also debuts on Fox Network, playing immediately after Firefly. It depicts the Asgardians as "sufficiently advanced aliens" whose technology appears to be magic to regular humans. Most noted for it's various hints to other Marvel-held properties, it does okay with ratings but is not the juggernaut that Artisan and Marvel were hoping for.

December 11, 2002: Artisan decides that it will not produce a second season of The Mighty Thor, citing lower-than-expected ratings.

December 20, 2002: Due to the cancellation of Firefly, The Mighty Thor is moved up on Fox's programming schedule. This gives it's last two episodes a much needed boost in screenings and it gains a pop-culture following right before it goes off air.

December 30, 2002: Artisan denies claims that they intend to revive The Mighty Thor for a second season, despite it's good ratings during it's last two episodes.

May 4, 2003: Artisan and Microsoft jointly announce that E.T. the Extra Terrestrial will be the first release of an HD-DVD which can currently only be played on a PC with Windows XP.

May 17, 2003: Captain America (a joint Artisan-Marvel production starring Chris O'Donnel) is released into theaters just a month after Fox's X2 and receives comparable ratings. The scene that leaves people talking is "Agent Loki"* from The Mighty Thor appearing in the Stinger where Captain America wakes up in the present.

*The Mighty Thor left off with Loki taking over the identity of a SHIELD agent on Earth.

June 4, 2003: Marvel Enterprises purchases Artisan Entertainment and merges it with Marvel Studios. This gives Marvel Entertainment the film libraries of Republic Pictures, ITC Entertainment, and Carolco Pictures. They assign someone to look at the marketability / worth of these libraries and how much (and if) they will sell for. Additionally, Marvel announces that Captain America will be the second film released on HD-DVD.

Mr.E said:

January 14th, 2002: With Jill Tarter and Neil Tyson in attendence, President Bush unveils the "Vision for Space Exploration," which will detail the next ten years of Space exploration, including probes for Mars and Venus, a manned return to the Moon, and new radio communications satellites. The most ambitious is a probe for Saturn's moon Titan.

Click to expand...

They all look great! This POD will be interesting to see if the political conditions exist for the actual development of the space program, especially considering the rancourous debate in Congress...

October 15, 2003: Yang Liwei becomes the first Chinese national launched into space from Jiuquan aboard Shenzhou-5, fueling calls for a "New Space Race",....

October 12, 2005: Liu Yang becomes the first Chinese woman launched into space aboard Shenzhou-6 from Jiuquan, sparking international attention,....

RandomIdeaGuy said:

October 1, 2001: The alien signal renews interest in Artisan's The Mighty Thor television series, which they adapt to the new interest in aliens and push through production (past their also planned Captain America movie).

September 20, 2002: The Mighty Thor also debuts on Fox Network, playing immediately after Firefly. It depicts the Asgardians as "sufficiently advanced aliens" whose technology appears to be magic to regular humans. Most noted for it's various hints to other Marvel-held properties, it does okay with ratings but is not the juggernaut that Artisan and Marvel were hoping for.

December 11, 2002: Artisan decides that it will not produce a second season of The Mighty Thor, citing lower-than-expected ratings.

December 20, 2002: Due to the cancellation of Firefly, The Mighty Thor is moved up on Fox's programming schedule. This gives it's last two episodes a much needed boost in screenings and it gains a pop-culture following right before it goes off air.

December 30, 2002: Artisan denies claims that they intend to revive The Mighty Thor for a second season, despite it's good ratings during it's last two episodes.

May 4, 2003: Artisan and Microsoft jointly announce that E.T. the Extra Terrestrial will be the first release of an HD-DVD which can currently only be played on a PC with Windows XP.

May 17, 2003: Captain America (a joint Artisan-Marvel production) is released into theaters just a month after Fox's X2 and receives comparable ratings. The scene that leaves people talking is "Agent Loki"* from The Mighty Thor appearing in the Stinger where Captain America wakes up in the present.

*The Mighty Thor left off with Loki taking over the identity of a SHIELD agent on Earth.

June 4, 2003: Marvel Enterprises purchases Artisan Entertainment and merges it with Marvel Studios. This gives Marvel Entertainment the film libraries of Republic Pictures, ITC Entertainment, and Carolco Pictures. They assign someone to look at the marketability / worth of these libraries and how much (and if) they will sell for. Additionally, Marvel announces that Captain America will be the second film released on HD-DVD.

Click to expand...

Interesting!! What will happen to DC Comics and its franchises in the ATL?

August 30, 2001: Warners Bros. green-lights a Batman vs. Superman project in light of renewed interest in aliens.

August 8, 2003: Batman vs. Superman is released as a huge box office success, matching the first Spiderman movie in terms of box office gross. It focuses on a young Batman (Christian Bale) conflicting with Superman (Josh Hartnet) an alien raised on Earth who is having trouble controlling his powers thanks to a plot from Lex Luthor (Liam Neeson).

2 December 2001 - Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the 101-year old mother of the long-time monarch of Great Britain Queen Elizabeth II changes her schedule in order to view a series of programs on the BBC regarding the SETI signal.

15 February 2002 - At the funeral of her daughter Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother is overheard remarking to her daughter the Queen that it should have been her own health that was bad instead of Prince Margaret's and even though she was 101 years old, she still felt pretty good.

10 February 2005 - One hundred and four-year-old Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother attends the wedding reception held at Windsor Castle for her beloved grandson, Prince Charles on the occasion of his marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles.

7 August 2005 - Death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother a few days after her 105th birthday, in her sleep at Royal Lodge.

2004 is known as the year of the dueling comic book movies, with four (4!) different movies released featuring comic book characters.

Power Pack (Marvel Studios) (May 15) ~ Focusing on a group of four children who gain superpowers from a dying alien: Alex (Haley Joel Osment), Julie (Larisa Oleynik), Jack (Jonathan Lipnicki), and Katie (Taylor Dooley). Marketed as a kids movie, it is well received for that type of movie.

Spiderman 2 (Sony) (June 30) ~ In order the cash in on the alien fixation, Sony changes Spiderman 2's script to include the Venom symbiote storyline along with Doc Ock remaining as the main villain. It does well at the box office, matching Spiderman 1 and Batman vs. Superman in terms of profits.

Fantastic Four (Fox) (July 22) ~ Brought forward a year in production thanks to the cancellation of Daredevil, this one relies on a solid story to make up for it's poor CGI (which they didn't have time to meticulously pour over thanks to the expedited production). Probably the least well received in of the summer.

Green Lantern (Warner Bros) (August 11) ~ Written by David S. Goyer, this focuses on Hal Jordan (Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame)'s origin story, training with the Green Lanterns, and conflict with Krona (a renegade Guardian). This one makes more money than Fantastic Four - which is still a healthy 400 million dollar gross.

Though these movies are well received, they help to put the pop culture obsession with aliens to bed by flooding the market with too many movies focusing on the subject. On the bright-side, there is still a gathering interest in superhero comic book movies although so far only Marvel Studios is making an effort to tie their movies together (with Captain America appearing in Power Pack).

April 13, 2002: Pedro Carmona overthrows Hugo Chavez in a U.S.-backed coup in Caracas, Venezuela, fueling civil unrest and panic across the region,....

February 24, 2006: Philippine military forces overthrow President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in a coup in Manila, Philippines, fueling civil unrest and panic in the region,....

September 19, 2006: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is killed in a military coup in Bangkok, Thailand, fueling civil unrest across the region,....

May 6, 2007: French Prime Minister Ségolène Royal, amidst growing corruption scandal UMP scandal involving Nicolas Sarkozy, sparking national attention,...

May 27, 2010: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is placed under arrest after he is discovered with an underage prostitute, Karima El Mahroug in Milan, sparking international attention,....

August 5, 2011: Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of fallen Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, leads a "people's revolution" overthrowing the government in Bangkok, Thailand,....

November 1st, 2003: Congress approves the "Space Exploration Act" based off a moderated version of Bush's agenda. Among the items is a return to the Moon by the year 2013...

January 15th, 2004: Congress approves the "Department of Science and Technology." NASA, NOAA, EPA, NIH, NSF, and other scientific posts are placed under this department. The first "Secretary of Science and Technology" is former astronaut Sally Ride...

June 8th, 2004: Howard Dean wins the Democratic primaries for President. For his Vice-Presidential nominee, he chooses his opponent Wesley Clark..

Novemver 14, 2005: New York Times reports that FOX-TV and FOX News Corporation officials tapped into the cellphones and PCs of several members of Congress including Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL),...

August 8, 2006: Huffington Post reveals the broad extent Cabinet officials and Congressional officials were tapped, fueling calls for hearings against Rupert Murdoch and FOX News Corporation in Washington D.C.,...

December 25th, 2003: The Beagle 2 lands safely on the Martian surface, making ESA the third space agency (after the Soviet and American agencies) to land a craft on Mars

January 24th, 2004: Three weeks after Spirit, Opportunity crash lands on Mars.

September 28th, 2006: Pokemon Diamond and Pearl is released. As a result of the new alien craze, there is a scene set on the moon, where you could encounter a Pokemon called Deoxys, and learn more about its history. You could also enter the Distortion World from here...

Just remember that space technology can be a curse as well:

January 31, 2006: Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) reports that much of the technology used by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) is being used to monitor civilians through the National Security Agency (NSA),...

July 20, 2006: U.S. 9th Circuit Court denies the government's case that the DST operations fall under States Secrets Privilege, during a ruling in San Francisco, California,...

November 7, 2006: Eric Cantor (R-VA) is named acting Speaker of the House, replacing outgoing Dennis Hastert (R-IL) amidst growing revelations of a sex abuse scandal,...

August 15, 2007: U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals begins hearings over DST and its role in domestic surveillance of citizens nationwide,...

July 8-9, 2009: U.S. Congressional leaders led by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) report evidence that FOX News Corporation officials tapped into DST resources in Washington D.C.,..