It's obviously a major malfunction.
--their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook.
Robert Kennedy was shot in that ballroom.
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
A sniper has fired at President Kennedy.
Or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?
Hi-yo, Silver!
--1941 ...
...a date which will live in infamy.
We bring you the final edition of our Maxwell House Good News of 1939.
Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. North America, and all the ships at sea.
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
CQ...
...this is W-9 GFO.
CQ, this is W-9 GFO here. Come back?
CQ...
...this is W-9 GFO here.
Come back?
CQ, this is W-9 GFO. Is anybody out there?
Not getting anything.
Small moves, Ellie.
Small moves.
CQ, this is W-9 GFO here. Come back?
Copy, W-9 GFO.
K-4 WLD here.
What do I say?
Just be yourself.
Where are you, K-4 WLD? Come back?
Pensacola. Over.
Pensacola, where's Pensacola?
I'll give you a hint.
Orange juice.
Copy that, K-4 WLD. How's the weather down there in Florida?
Pensacola, Florida.
I have to tell you, Sparks.
1,116 miles.
Pretty good.
That's the farthest yet.
Can we hear all the way to New York?
Sure.
Can we hear all the way to California?
I don't see why not.
Can we hear all the way to Alaska?
On a really clear day.
Can we hear all the way to China?
On a really, really clear day.
Could we talk to the moon?
If it's a big enough radio, I don't see why not.
Could we talk to Jupiter?
Or what's the one after that?
Don't tell me.
I'll give you a hint.
Hula-Hoops.
Saturn! Could we talk to Saturn?
Dad, could we talk to Mom?
I don't think even the biggest radio could reach that far.
All right, no more stalling.
Pensacola!
That's a beauty.
Now get some sleep.
Hey, Dad?
Do you think there's people on other planets?
I don't know, Sparks.
But I guess I'd say...
...if it is just us...
...it seems like an awful waste of space.
CQ, this is W-9 GFO.
Repeat. This is W-9 GFO. Come back?
I'm going to need a bigger antenna.
What do you think, Doc Arroway?
Isn't she a beauty?
It'll do.
The village is five miles away.
There's a general store in the cantina. They can order anything from San Juan.
When can I get dish time?
Dr. Clark said you couldn't wait. Your first shift is tonight.
Go back.
Try back a little bit. You had something there.
There!
- Right there? - You hear it? Right there, that's it.
All right, 1221.46. That's well within the L-band.
Check off-axis.
On it.
It's not in the neighborhood.
Here it is. J-1741 ...
...+ 2748.
Catalogued November 4, 1982. Pulsar.
Must've been the glitch in the timing's what threw me.
Must've been a starquake.
I think it's great that you listen. Most don't do that anymore.
It's just an old habit. It makes it feel more real.
Ellie.
Kent Clark.
They said you'd been...
...up at Owen's Valley working under Drumlin.
How'd you like him?
That much? About what I'd expect after what he had to say about you.
And what was that?
That you are brilliant...
...driven...
...a major pain in the ass...
...and obsessed with a field of study he considers tantamount...
...to professional suicide.
Anything else?
Those were the highlights.
Davio, Dr. Vernon. Dr. Arroway.
Believe you've already met our tireless research assistant, Mr. Fisher...
...as well as his cologne.
Brook's looking at the black hole in M-87.
Eli's studying Markarian 541, a major gamma ray source.
Dr. Arroway will be spending her precious telescope time listening for...
...listening for....
Little green men.
One down...
...a couple billion to go.
Arecibo, right?
Does it show?
Cracker Jack?
No, thanks.
Mind if I sit down?
I hear the locals, they call it "El Radar."
Convinced it has some dark military purpose.
I think we're harmless.
Palmer Joss.
- Ellie Arroway. - Nice to meet you, Ellie.
What are you studying up there?
The usual.
Nebulae, quasars, pulsars, stuff like that.
What are you writing?
The usual. Nouns, adverbs...
...adjective here and there.
I work on a project, SETI.
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence?
That is out there!
Are you a student or something?
I'm a writer. I'm writing a book.
I'm here doing research about how technology affects Third World cultures.
I'm also looking for this guy, David Drumlin.
He's head of the National Science Foundation. I want an interview.
I take it you know him?
You could say that.
SETI.
That's fringe!
I've crossed paths with him. Something like that must really chap his ass.
Compass.
That's for you.
You better keep this.
Might save your life someday.
Have dinner with me tonight?
I don't make a good research subject. I'm not quotable.
No quotes. Scout's honor.
Good meal, good company.
I've got to go.
Drumlin's coming in Tuesday.
Now I remember why I took that desk job.
Dr. Drumlin, how are you?
Glad you could make it.
If I'd known it took 3 planes, I might've reconsidered.
How is that new office?
Still settling in. They already want to give half my budget to the Pentagon.
Still waiting for E.T. to call?
Good to see you too!
Asshole!
Looks like it's going to be a long night.
Science must be accountable to the people paying for it, the taxpayers.
We must stop wasting money on pie-in-the-sky abstractions...
...and spend it on practical, measurable ways...
...to improve the lives of the people who are paying.
Not unlike my L-band, globular clusters work.
You want to do away with all pure research now?
What's wrong with science being practical? Even profitable?
Nothing, as long as your motive...
...is the search for truth. Which is what the pursuit of science is.
That's an interesting position from a man...
...on a crusade against the evils of technology...
...Father Joss.
I'm not against technology, Doctor. I'm against...
...the men who deify it at the expense of human truth.
Kent, I need to have a word with you. Over here, please.
You think that hurt my chances with that interview?
You're a priest?
Not really.
I got my Masters in Divinity...
...then left the seminary to do secular humanitarian work...
...coordinating Third World churches.
I couldn't live with the celibacy thing.
You could call me a man of the cloth...
...without the cloth.
You want to get out of here?
You see that large W-shaped constellation there? That's Cassiopeia.
And Cassiopeia A gives off a whole lot of radio signals.
I listen to them a lot.
It's a remnant of a supernova.
When did you know you wanted to be an astronomer?
When I was about eight years old...
...watching the sunset, I asked Dad, "What's that bright star over there?"
He said that it wasn't a star. It was...
...a whole planet called Venus...
...which should be over there soon.
He said, "You know why they called it Venus?
Because they thought it was so beautiful and glowing.
But they didn't know...
...that it's filled with...
...deadly gases and sulfuric acid rain."
Wow, I thought, "This is it! I'm hooked!"
There are four hundred billion stars out there...
...just in our galaxy alone.
If only one out of a million of those had planets...
...if just one out of a million of those had life...
...and if just one out of a million of those had intelligent life...
...there would be literally millions of civilizations out there...
If there wasn't...
...it'd be an awful waste of space.
Amen.
So I was lying there, just looking at the sky.
And then I felt something. I don't know.
All I know is that I wasn't alone.
For the first time in my life I wasn't scared of nothing...
...not even dying.
It was God.
And there's no chance that...
...you had this experience because some part of you needed to have it?
I'm a reasonably intelligent guy, but this....
My intellect couldn't even touch this.
No.
I've been to Sunday school a few times.
And?
I kept asking all these really annoying questions like...
..."Where did Mrs. Cain come from?"
And pretty soon they asked my dad...
...if he wouldn't mind keeping me home from now on.
Your dad....
Is it this guy?
Yeah.
You're close to him, aren't you?
I was. He died when I was nine years old.
I never got to know my mother.
I'm sorry.
That's got to be tough.
Being alone.
What do you say...
...we pack a picnic tomorrow and hike up to Mount Arecibo?
I don't think I can. I've got to work.
How about dinner tomorrow night? I know a great dive.
No, I don't think so.
Ellie, did I miss something?
No.
Shit, I'm late!
I told Kent that I'd be there at 10:30.
I'm not trying to push you.
I've wanted to look at this sector for weeks.
Just hang out...
...and sleep in. There's food in the fridge.
How can I reach you?
Just leave your number. I'll call you.
Dad!
It's starting, you're going to miss it!
Dad, there's another one! Hurry up!
In a minute, Sparks! I'm almost done.
There's another one. Come on, hurry up, Dad!
I'll get the medicine.
I know it's hard to understand this now...
...but we aren't always meant to know why things happen the way they do.
Sometimes, we just have to accept it...
...as God's will.
I should have kept medicine in the downstairs bathroom.
Then I could've gotten to it sooner.
CQ...
...this is W-9 GFO. Do you copy?
Dad, this is Ellie. Come back.
This is Eleanor Arroway...
...transmitting on 14.2 megahertz.
Are you there?
Come back.
Are you there?
Dad, this is Ellie.
Hi, Kent. What are you doing up so early?
I was thinking...
...we'd make a pretty good team.
We could put together an ad hoc SETI program.
You know the Very Large Array in New Mexico?
It's a dynamite place to do SETI work--
What are you talking about?
Drumlin pulled the plug.
We're homeless.
It's true, you pulled the plug?
You can't see it now, but I'm doing you a favor.
You're too promising a scientist to waste your gifts on this nonsense.
I don't consider what could be...
...the most important human discovery nonsense!
400 billion stars--
And two probabilities. One, there's intelligent life...
...but too far away to contact in your lifetime.
- And two! - You're making a decision--
There's nothing but gases and carbon compounds and you're wasting your time!
In the meantime, you won't be taken seriously.
Your career will be over!
So what?
It's my life!
Hey, Kent. You were right.
Screw Drumlin. We'll raise the money ourselves. We'll go to New Mexico.
Chicago's set. Let me know how it goes.
I've got more corporate stops on the East Coast for you.
Did that investor from Houston ever get back to us?
I'll hit him up on my way to L.A.
Beg for some of that Hollywood money!
They've been making money off aliens for years.
- Begging is good for the soul. - We'll see.
Just do me a favor.
Try not to be too...confrontational.
Confrontational? Me? What do you mean?
I'll see if I left anything.
It's a unique time in our history, in the history of any civilization.
It's the moment of the acquisition of technology.
That's the moment where contact becomes possible.
The Very Large Array in New Mexico...
...is the key to our chances for success.
With its 27 linked radio telescopes...
...we can search more accurately than at any other facility.
We've gotten approval to buy the telescope time from the government.
Now all we really need is the money.
A nice presentation, Doctor.
But while our foundation arm has a mandate to support...
...experimental programs, your proposal...
...seems less like science, and more like science fiction.
Science fiction.
You're right.
It's crazy.
In fact, it's even worse than that: nuts!
Want to hear something nutty?
Two guys wanted to build a thing called an airplane.
People go in it and fly like birds. Ridiculous, right?
What about breaking the sound barrier...
...or rockets to the moon, or atomic energy or a mission to Mars?
Science fiction, right?
All I'm asking is for you to just have the tiniest bit of vision.
To step back and look at the big picture.
Take a chance on something which could end up the most impactful moment...
...for humanity, for the history...
...of history.
I'm sorry.
I just spent 13 months...
...coming into rooms and talking to people like you.
You're my last chance.
Sorry I wasted your time.
Doctor.
Yes, sir.
You have your money.
Thank you.
Perfect cast! Come on, fishy!
Frank, look at the size...
...of that son-of-a-bitch!
Welcome back, Dr. C.
How'd it go?
How was the trip?
I've had better.
Drumlin! Is this a personal vendetta now?
There's been enormous pressure from other scientists as well.
It doesn't matter. Hadden's funding us for 2 more years.
The government doesn't want their telescopes used by the high priestess...
...of the desert anymore.
What?
Staring at TV static for hours, listening to washing machines.
These stories get out!
I was seeking patterns in the chaos!
It doesn't matter, we're a joke to them.
They want us out!
We've got 3 months till the paperwork goes through.
I'll start looking for other funding.
Could you face reality? Just this once? We lost.
It's over.
Fine.
I'm not stopping.
If I have to, I'll go it alone. I've done it before.
My guest tonight is author and theologian Palmer Joss.
He's become a spiritual counselor, and a recent fixture at the White House.
"God's Diplomat," according to The New York Times.
His latest book, "Losing Faith," is currently number one...
...on that publication's bestseller list.
Thanks for being here. You've had quite a ride...
...the last few years.
Yeah, I sure have, Larry.
Fish, I was thinking.
Who would make the best astronomers? Think about it.
Who has the perfect synthesis of career and lifestyle?
I give.
Vampires!
Are you anti-technology and anti-science?
No, not at all.
The question that I'm asking is this:
Are we happier...
...as a human race? Is the world fundamentally a better place...
...because of science and technology?
We shop at home, we surf the Web...
...but at the same time we feel emptier...
...and more cut off from each other than at any other time in human history.
We're becoming a synthesized society...
...in a hurry to get to the....
We're looking for the meaning.
What is the meaning?
We have mindless jobs, take frantic vacations.
Deficit finance trips to the mall to buy things...
...that we think will fill these holes in our lives.
Any wonder we've lost our sense of direction?
Holy shit!
Right ascension...
...18 hours, 36 minutes, 56.2 seconds!
Declination...
...+ 36 degrees, 46 minutes...
...56.2 seconds!
Confirm!
Right ascension, 18 hours, 36 minutes...
...56.2 seconds!
Is anybody awake in there? I'm moving the array!
- Confirm!
Boss has a bogey!
Right ascension, 18 hours....
We're on it!
36 hours...
...47 minutes and 1 second!
Strong possible...
...pulse chain on sub-array four!
I'm moving the rest. Confirm coordinates!
Check the status of the array.
She's doing all the dishes.
Systems nominal.
Hello.
Full systems check!
Coordinates confirmed. Willie's checking the system.
Stay on top of the systems diagnostics!
Check reference point offsets.
And I want you off-axis on 27 the second we get there!
And tell Willie to break out the big boy!
Copy that.
Yeah! Go, Ellie!
I hear it on the headphones. We got to be sure about this.
Give me another array status.
Her four are online, the rest are tracking in.
But there's a bad drive on 16.
The four are online, the rest are tracking in.
There's a bad drive on 16. Copy that?
What shall I do about the source queue?
Forget it and hold the queue.
Get ready to set the target frequency to manual the second we're aligned.
Do you copy? I want you to go off-axis on 27 the second we're there!
And leave the LO frequency where it is!
Don't let it get away! If you lose it, scan the band!
Run every frequency you can think of.
How you doing?
Talk to me, guys.
Partially polarized moving pulses, amplitude modulated.
We're locked. Systems are fine. What's the frequency?
4.46...
...23 gigahertz.
Hydrogen times pi.
Told you!
Strong sucker too!
I got it! I'm patched in!
Let me hear.
Listen to that.
Make me a liar, Fish.
It could be AWACS out of Kirkland jamming us.
But I doubt it.
See if F.U.D.D.'s reading it too.
Patch it back and give me the off-axis.
- We recording? - Never stopped.
Thank you, Elmer!
AWACS status is negative.
White Sands?
On this frequency? No.
I'll punch up the darks.
How's spying tonight?
Come on!
NORAD's not tracking any snoops in this vector.
Shuttle's in sleep mode.
Okay, point source confirmed.
Whatever it is, it ain't local.
Position?
I checked interferometry. Somewhere in Lyra.
- Vega? - Can't be!
It's only 26 light years away.
- Peak intensity? - Coming up!
Vega.
Vega. I scanned it a bunch of times at Arecibo. It was always negative.
Got it!
Reading over 100 janskys.
Jesus! I can pick it up on my....
No!
Come on!
It's restarting.
Wait a minute. Those are numbers.
That was 3, before it was 2.
Base 10 numbers. Count and see how far we get.
One.
Seven.
Those are primes.
2, 3, 5, 7 are all prime numbers.
No way that's a natural phenomenon!
Let's just calm down and pull up the star file on Vega.
It doesn't make any sense. The system is too young.
It can't have a planetary system...
...let alone life or a technological civilization.
Maybe they're not from there, they're visiting.
Spacecraft? This system's full of debris. It'd get clobbered.
Not if they used their laser blasters and photon torpedoes.
- That's not funny. - How else can we explain it!
He's right. If we go public with this and we're wrong...
...it's over. We're cooked.
I wish Kent was here.
Whatever it is, let's do something. Vega will set.
Position confirmed. We've got 4.4623 gigahertz, confirmed.
We've got 1 12 janskys.
Do you have a source location yet?
We put it right smack in the middle.
Vega.
Thanks. Keep tracking and we'll get back to you.
Right-o.
101 . The pulse sequenced...
...through every prime number between 2 and 101 .
Who do we call now?
Everybody.
The rumors are flying, the implications extraordinary.
Detection of an unidentified...
...radio source from space can neither be confirmed nor denied.
But the military arriving....
Sources close to the VLA report they have been contacted...
...by some form of intelligent being...
...living outside our solar system. Again, there is no confirmation.
I want all of these people out of here.
Where's the girl?
22 stations worldwide...
...now confirm the signal.
Vega's now below our horizon.
You're hearing the signal from the Russian--
Get decryption people here.
Lunacharsky's visiting at Cal Tech.
Explain this to me.
If the source of the signal is so sophisticated...why the remedial math?
Why not just speak English?
Maybe because 70% of the planet speaks other languages.
Mathematics is the only truly universal language.
It's no coincidence that they're using primes.
I don't get it.
Prime numbers.
Integers only divisible by themselves and 1 .
We think this may be a beacon, an announcement...
...to get our attention.
If it's attention you want, you got that. One thing: Vega.
People have looked at Vega for years, with no results.
Yesterday they start broadcasting primes. Why?
It's hardly yesterday.
The signal's been transmitting for 26 years.
Excuse me, who are you?
Michael Kitz, National Security Advisor.
Your reputation--
First, ask the gentlemen with the guns to wait outside.
This is a civilian facility.
With all due respect--
Excuse me.
Hi! I'm so glad you're back!
Come hear this.
Is this great?
- Who are all these people? - I have no idea.
Sit down. We need help with the spectrum analysis.
- I'll get on it. - Headsets.
I'll just come right to the point.
Announcing this all over the world may well be a breach of national security.
It's not a person-to-person call.
You think a civilization sending this message intends it just for Americans?
You might have consulted us.
- The contents could be very sensitive. - You want to classify prime numbers?
Due to earth's rotation, we're in line with Vega only hours a day.
The only way to monitor the signal is to cooperate with other stations.
If Dr. Arroway hadn't acted quickly, we'd have lost key elements.
Fine, they've got the primes.
But if a more significant transmission is to come--
We need help to receive and decode.
You understand that my job is to protect....
- Listen. - I hear it.
Hear what?
Harmonic.
Bingo! I had Willie ask Rattan to retune to 8.9247 gigahertz.
There's a lot more here.
- Get on the negative sideband. - I'm already on it.
What is it?
Another signal!
A second signal at double the frequency. Looks like....
Get a TV monitor!
Patch it into the image processor.
Want the new data?
Yeah, the new one we just recorded.
David, explain this to me, please.
There's another signal. Looks like a TV transmission.
We're hot.
Go get the blinds. There is a lot of glare.
You're patched in.
It's definitely an image. Let's try and stabilize it.
What do you make of that?
It's two different interlaced frames. I'm framing one.
- It's just noise. - Trying frame two.
I've got an offset carrier. I think it's audio.
Plug it in!
Center that segment.
Centering.
Can you clean it up?
I'm working on it.
What the hell...?
Try zooming out.
Freeze!
Reverse values.
Try zooming out again.
Rotate 90 degrees counterclock...
My God!
What's going on?
You're not going to believe this.
Does anybody speak German?
"I declare the Games in Berlin...
...at the celebration...
...of the first Olympics of the New Era...
...as opened."
Get me the White House.
20 million people died defeating the bastard...
...and he's our first ambassador to outer space?
The broadcast of the '36 Olympics was the first TV transmission...
...that went into space.
Sending it back is a way of saying, "Hello, we heard you."
Or, "Sieg Heil, you're our kind of people."
Hitler's politics have nothing to do with this.
It's unlikely they understood it. People must understand--
The people are in very good hands, Doctor.
We'll take it from here.
Smile, folks. We're on.
A message of unknown origin from deep space...
...was received by American scientists. Now to the White House.
We're told the President will have only a few remarks...
...about today's extraordinary events...
...and that he won't be taking any questions from the press.
Good afternoon.
I'm glad to be joined by my...
...Science and Technology Advisor.
This is the product of years of exploration...
...by some of the world's most distinguished scientists.
Like all discoveries...
...this one will continue to be reviewed...
...examined...
...and scrutinized.
It must be confirmed by other scientists.
But clearly...
...the fact that this is being explored is a vindication....
Fish, what is the story over here? I thought Ellie was supposed to be on.
I don't know.
Guys?
Those interlaced frames we thought were noise?
This has structure. I'm hearing structure.
If this discovery is confirmed...
...it will be one of the most stunning insights into our universe...
...that science has ever uncovered.
Its implications are as far-reaching...
...and awe-inspiring as can be imagined.
Even as it promises answers to some of our oldest questions...
...it poses still others...
...even more fundamental.
We will continue to listen closely...
...to what it has to say...
...as we continue the search for answers...
...and for knowledge...
...that is as old as humanity itself...
...but essential to our people's future.
Thank you.
Is there a renewed assessment of security threat?
I'll answer your questions after a few corrections.
The message was received Friday...
...at 6:31 a.m. Mountain Standard Time.
It was largely mathematical...
...and in spite of reports to the contrary...
...appears to be completely benign in nature.
Let me say that again. The message is completely benign.
The President has contacted the world's heads of state...
...and every security measure is being taken.
To better explain the events of the last 48 hours...
...is the leader of the scientific team that made this remarkable discovery...
...Dr. David Drumlin, special Science Advisor to the President.
Thank you, Rachel.
Hello.
In 1936 a very faint television signal...
...transmitted the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games as a show...
...of German superior technology.
That signal left Earth at the speed of light and 26 years later....
...arrived in the vicinity of the star we call Vega.
That signal has been sent back to us hugely amplified...
...an unmistakable sign of intelligence.
Kent, go ahead.
The Adolf transmission used 25 frames per second but we're receiving 50.
So we put the other 25 through search algorithms.
We found a series of markers on the top of each frame.
- Are you ready? - Yeah, go ahead!
Send it, Willie.
Here it comes.
It's digital...
...massive amounts of data which extend right to the higher harmonics.
Jackpot!
All right, as you'll see...
...interlaced with the frames of the original Hitler image...
...we found these sections.
We thought they were noise, but they're actually data...
...huge amounts of it.
When we combine this with the data from the original signal...
...we get these encrypted pages of text.
No two are alike and we've uncovered over 10,000 already.
What does it mean, Doctor?
We have no idea. It could be anything.
Volume 1 of an Encyclopedia Galactica.
Instructions for us on their colonization procedures.
Moses with a few billion new commandments.
How long will it take to decode it?
It could take forever. We really need a primer--
We need to get the best decryption people we have.
I intend to use the VLA as my command post.
In the meantime, my office has made out a preliminary budget.
Wait a minute.
This is a privately-funded operation.
We lease dish time from the government--
This is a clear-cut case of eminent domain.
I'm recommending to the President we militarize this project.
What?! This is my project!
Nobody knows more about this than I do. David, tell them--
Excuse me! Could we calm down here?
I'm going to recommend that Dr. Drumlin coordinate the decryption effort.
But in light of Dr. Arroway's long experience in these matters...
...for the time being, she will direct operations at the VLA...
...understanding that future discoveries will be kept in strict confidence...
...until such time as the President...
...can decide the most suitable course of action. Understood?
Yes.
This is CNN Breaking News.
The President called the message from Vega...
..."a stunning insight into our universe--"
Attendance at religious services has risen a dramatic 39% in recent days.
...as police clashed with neo-Nazi protesters.
So, there's life on other planets.
Boy, this will really change the Miss Universe contest.
Health officials worldwide are concerned that the message from Vega...
...might trigger a rash of mass suicides...
...not unlike recent cult deaths near San Diego--
Even a scientist must admit...
...there are some pretty serious religious overtones to all this.
Here's someone whose organization...
...is accused of conducting its own inquisition:
Richard Rank, head of the Conservative Coalition.
Thank you.
This is yet another example of science intruding into matters of faith.
This means they have been reacting to TV signals...
...from the 1930's. They're just getting them.
Imagine how disappointed they'll be if they're Cubs fans.
We now go to Jeremy Roth, who is reporting...
...from the Very Large Array near Socorro, New Mexico.
Like a bolt from the blue it came.
"The Message from Vega" has caused...
...thousands of believers and non-believers...
...to descend upon the VLA facility here in the desert of New Mexico.
Many have come to protest, many to pray...
...but most have come to participate in what's become the best show in town.
Well, I saw the thing coming out of the sky
It had one long horn and one big eye
I commenced to shaking and said Oo-ee
Looks like a Purple People Eater to me
Hail to Vega Hail to Vega
But they have failed!
It's the same people who, again and again...
...have brought us to the brink of destruction!
Who've polluted our air, who've poisoned our water!
Now these scientists...
...have had their chance.
Are these the kind of people...
...that you want talking to your God for you?
Efforts continue around the clock.
But for now, almost 2 full weeks after the message's arrival...
...scientists here at the VLA still have no answers...
...only more questions.
Jeremy Roth, CNN, Socorro, New Mexico.
More on the quest for the message's meaning, after this.
They have to line up somehow.
This one doesn't fit, either.
We've tried over a million permutations.
Always, I can only get three corners to fit.
I don't understand their significance.
Somebody broke in--
Hello?
Whoever you are, you broke into the database--
What? Now?
Where?
I'll be there.
You should feel fortunate.
He hardly lands for anyone.
Dr. Arroway.
I presume?
Mr. Hadden.
I've had my eye on you a long time, Doctor.
I consider you one of my most valuable long-term investments.
And when it comes to my investments...
...I always do my homework.
Eleanor Ann Arroway...
...born 25th August, 1964...
...De Pere, Wisconsin.
Mother, Joanna, died from complications during childbirth.
Early testing indicated high predisposition...
...towards science and mathematics.
Father, Theodore...
...advised to provide enrichment activities in these areas...
...did so conscientiously until his death...
...from myocardial infarction, November 10, 1974.
You graduated from high school in 1979...
...almost two full years early.
Awarded full scholarship, M.I.T....
...graduated magna cum laude.
Doctoral work, Cal Tech...
...where you worked on the lanthanide-doped ruby maser...
...dramatically increasing the sensitivity of radio telescopes.
Subsequently offered a teaching position at Harvard University...
...which you turned down to pursue SETI work...
...at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
Changes in N.S.F. policy...
...gave rise to certain funding problems...
...at which point...
...you came to my attention.
You compromised our security codes.
Once upon a time...
...I was a hell of an engineer.
Please, sit, Doctor.
I have guests so rarely, it's important they feel welcome in my home.
You live here?
I find it convenient to keep my interests...
...mobile.
Anyway, I've had my fill of life on the ground.
I guess I should....
I guess I should thank you for having bailed me out all that time.
I know a good bet when I see one.
Earl Grey. No sugar, no milk, I believe.
What am I doing here?
The powers that be have been very busy lately...
...positioning themselves...
...for the game of the millennium.
Maybe I can help deal you back in.
I didn't realize that I was out.
No. Maybe not out...
...but certainly being handed your hat.
I've had a long time to make enemies, Doctor.
There are many governments...
...business interests...
...even religious leaders that would like to see me depart this earth.
And I'll grant them their wish soon enough.
But before I do, I wish to make a small contribution.
A final gesture of goodwill to the people of this planet who have given...
...from whom I have taken so much.
You found the primer.
Clever girl!
Lights.
Pages and pages of data.
Over 63,000 in all.
And on the perimeter of each--
Alignment symbols, registration marks, but they don't line up.
They do...
...if you think like a Vegan.
An alien intelligence has got be more advanced...
...and that means efficiency functioning on multiple levels...
...and in multiple...
...dimensions.
Yes, of course!
Where's the primer?
You'll see.
Every three-dimensional page contains a piece of the primer.
There it was all the time, staring you in the face.
Buried within the message itself is the key to decoding it.
Within the layering of the matrix, we have these basic equations:
So with this very elementary foundation, they have given us a kind of...
...general scientific vocabulary.
We now have the symbols for true and false--
This was the key...
...that allowed us to decipher their language...
...for physics, geometry, chemistry. Next frame, Ellie.
Yes, and when we apply this to the rest of the message...
...we find this.
Those look like engineering schematics, almost like blueprints.
Yes.
It is our belief that the message contains instructions...
...for building something, some kind of machine.
A machine? That does what, Doctor?
We don't know. It might be some type...
...of advanced communication device, or a teaching machine of some kind.
Or it might be...
...some kind of a transport.
- Transport? - There's no proof of that.
The fact is you don't know what it does. It could be anything.
A Trojan Horse. We build it and out pours the entire Vegan army.
Why risk the personnel? It could be a weapon.
Right. Some kind of a Doomsday Machine.
Every time they detect a new civilization...
...they fax construction plans from space.
We poor saps build this thing and blow ourselves to kingdom come.
There's no reason to believe their intentions are hostile.
Why is it the egghead position that aliens are always benign?
We pose no threat to them.
It'd be like us going out of our way...
...to destroy microbes on an anthill.
Interesting analogy.
How guilty would we feel if we destroyed a few microbes on an anthill?
I hope you're right.
I really do.
But my job is to protect American lives from any threat...
...so I am obligated to assume the worst.
Yes, and I am forced to agree with you.
My problem is this:
The content of that message is morally ambiguous at best.
Our internal numbers show support for this is incredibly soft.
If the President stays this course...
...his numbers will be going south like ducks in winter.
This is nuts!
Excuse me...
...Miss.
We know nothing of these creatures' values.
We don't even know whether they believe in God.
This doesn't make any sense. If--
Excuse me, Dr. Arroway.
We won't be suppressing any opinions here today.
No, of course not. I understand.
What I meant to say...
...is the message was written in the language of science.
If it was religious in nature, it should have taken the form...
...of a burning bush or a voice from the sky.
But a voice from the sky...
...is exactly what you found, Doctor Arroway.
I'm sorry I'm late, ma'am.
I agree with Mr. Rank that there are unavoidable...
...religious implications at stake.
But that doesn't justify being an alarmist.
I hope that we can find a common ground...
...break through obstacles that may have kept us apart.
Listen, I need to make one thing very clear.
Our organization will not be placated with flowery New Age rhetoric--
Mr. President!
The President met with top advisors...
...regarding the latest efforts to decode the message.
While there has been some progress, the official line remains cautious.
If you're asking when we'll find out...
...what the purpose of that Machine is...
...maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe never.
There he is. The man with his finger on the nation's spiritual pulse.
It's so good to see you.
You too.
Your discovery, all of this. It must be a real vindication.
I'm really happy for you.
Are you?
Mr. Joss, the President's waiting.
The President's waiting.
See you at the reception?
Yeah, I wouldn't miss it.
Miss Constantine, may I speak to you?
Certainly.
I have a big problem.
Do you know where I can find a really great dress?