Here is the first draft of the ATL so far:
August 15th, 1977: Dr. Jerry R. Ehman on August 15, 1977, while working on a SETI project at the Big Ear radio telescope of Ohio State University then located at Ohio Wesleyan University's Perkins Observatory, Delaware, Ohio. The signal bore all of the hallmarks of potential non-terrestrial and non-Solar System origin. It lasted for the full 72-second duration that Big Ear observed it, but was never detected again. The message was detected in the Sagitarius Constellation, roughly 122 light-years from Earth, making any conversation or exchange of information impossible, but the effect was clear, humanity was no longer the sentient life form in the universe...
August 16th, 1977: President Jimmy Carter, after receiving a briefing by his scientific advisors announces the radio signal to the world as a "profound discovery, which serves notice that we are not the sole heirs of creation..."
August 16th, 1977: Singer Elvis Presley proclaims that the signal is "divine providence", running onto his lawn and going into prayer at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee...
August 18th, 1977: Senator William Proxmire (D-WI) voices his scepticism, stating about the president's speech,"It's the best argument yet for chopping NASA's funding to the bone .... I say not a penny for this nutty fantasy..."
August 20th, 1977: Although conceived and planned since the late 1960s, the Voyager 2 launch gains one of its highest television ratings for NASA, with the launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida...
August 21st, 1977: Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) and William Proxmire (D-WI) demand an investigation into the "WOW! signal".
August 25th, 1977: A Senate Committee is formed to investigate the "WOW! signal".
August 26th, 1977: Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell states during a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia,"Without Divine interference we are alone in the universe and without Christ we are—and should be—terrified. The gospel is as relevant as ever..."
August 27th 1977: Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev says in a speech "It is clear that we are not alone in this universe, but there are fellow comrades elsewhere who like all sapient species must still abide by Karl Marx's great insights. I can but hope there the withering away of the State has already been accomplished".
September 11th, 1977: Ruth Norman (a.k.a. "Spaceship Ruthy"), Unarian Academy of Sciences, appears on The Tonight Show (NBC-TV), telling Johnny Carson to expect alien landings "before the end of the year..." in Los Angeles, California....
September 29th, 1977: Carl Sagan appears on The Tonight Show (NBC-TV) with host Johnny Carson, discussing the importance of "first contact" in Los Angeles, California....
December 22nd 1977: Ayatollah Khomeini dies in an automobile accident in Najaf.
December 25th, 1977: Professor Carl Sagan speaks on the importance of the radio signals, during a lecture at the Royal Institution in London, England...
February 1st, 1978: Jerry Falwell warns of a possible assassination attempt against President Jimmy Carter, warning that UFOs are a "Satanic tool of deception to cnfuse and confound mankind", during an interview in Virginia Beach, Virginia...
March 17th, 1978: Ufologist Nigel Watson warns of a possible chemical or nuclear accident, during a press conference in London, England, claiming to have translated the 1977 radio signals...
May 1st 1978: Shah Reza Pahlvani announces extensive political reforms, hoping to stop protests against his regime...
May 27th, 1978: Jerry Falwell proclaims that UFOs are the "transports of demons fom hell" during a televised sermon in Virginia Beach, Virginia...
June 15th 1978: Rev. Jim Jones of the People's Temple cult and Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles of the Heaven's Gate cult meet at Jonestown to form a new UFO-based cult Messenger of Heaven.
July 25th, 1978: Jerry Falwell proclaims that the lack of evidence of life on other worlds across the solar system as "proof of divine providence.."
November 5 1978: Dan White commits suicide and leaves a note saying "The arrival of the Greater Beings are imminent-I must come to them".
November 12th, 1978: Scientists question the "Wow!" signal during a press conference in Washington D.C., calling it a "political football"....
November 24th, 1978: 5,000 people gather in Warrenville, Illinois, after Guido Franch proclaims a UFO landing. Most people leave in disappointment when nothing happens.....
December 12th, 1978: Fortunato Zanfretta of Torriglia, Italy proclaims UFO the possibility of UFO landings, after an alleged UFO abduction, during an interview on Italian television....
June 21st, 1979: San Diego Riots; Riots erupt in San Diego, California after Mark Block claims a massive UFO landing outside the city limits....
September 28th, 1979: President Jimmy Carter releases his Space Policy Initiative (SNI) during a Rose Garden speech in Washington D.C.,...
December 21st, 1980: On an episode of Cosmos (PBS-TV), Carl Sagan, openly questions what huamnity's response should be regarding the alien radio signals...
November 20th, 1990: Vatican officials release a statement, more than 13 years after the intiial signal, saying,"Extraterrestrial contact is a real phenomenon. The Vatican is receiving much information about extraterrestrials and their contacts with humans from its Nuncios (embassies) in various countries, such as Mexico, Chile and Venezuela..."
