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Contact (1997) Contact is a thought-provoking sci-fi film released in 1997. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the movie explores

Contact (1997)

Contact is a thought-provoking sci-fi film released in 1997. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the movie explores humanity's search for extraterrestrial life through the story of Dr. Ellie Arroway, played by Jodie Foster. The star-studded cast also includes Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerritt, and James Woods. With its mesmerizing visuals and compelling storyline, Contact takes viewers on a journey to unravel the mysteries of the universe. To rekindle the magic, you can now play and download the film's soundtrack, filled with captivating sounds and music, right here. Prepare to be captivated by the wonders of the cosmos.

A couple guys wanted to build something called an airplane.
A final gesture of goodwill to the people of this little planet that have given...
A fraction of a second Earth time, yes.
A higher power intervened.
A man with the means, motive and opportunity to play you and the rest of us...
A nice presentation, doctor.
A phenomenon known in psychiatric circles, I believe, as a self reinforcing delusion.
A second signal at double the frequency. It looks like a...
A series of them.
A sniper has fired at President Kennedy.
A vision that tells us that we belong to something...
A vision...
A whole planet called Venus...
Actually, first, could you ask the gentlemen with the firearms to wait outside?
Actually, I quite like it up here.
Ah.
Alignment symbols, a registration mark, but they don't line up.
All controllers stand by to initiate drop sequence...
All controllers stand by to initiate IPV drop sequence. On my mark.
All controllers, I need a go no go for test initiation.
All I know is that I wasn't alone.
All I'm asking is for you to just have the tiniest bit of vision.
All Machine systems are go.
All right, 1221.46. That's well within the L band.
All right, all right, back to your stations.
All right, as you'll see...
All right, do you have a source location yet?
All right, freeze.
All right, great.
All right, great.
All right, how about dinner, then, tomorrow night? I know a great dive.
All right, it's definitely an image. Let's try and stabilize it.
All right, it's restarting.
All right, let me hear it.
All right, let's see if F.U.D.D.'s reading it too.
All right, no more stalling.
All right, people, I want things double and triple checked here.
All right, we've got a security breach here.
All right, you see that sort of large, W shaped constellation right there?
All right.
All systems are go.
All systems are go.
All systems ready for drop sequence.
All test subject instrumentation looks good.
All vibration and G levels are in the green.
Always, I can only get three corners to fit.
Amen.
Amid a flurry of accusations and counter accusations...
Amid a flurry of accusations and counter accusations...
An alien intelligence has got be more advanced...
An all powerful, mysterious God created the universe...
And a few more of these.
And augmenting our restraint and communications console subsystem...
And Cassiopeia A gives off a whole lot of radio signals.
And Dr. Arroway will be spending her precious telescope time listening for, um...
And Drumlin told you exactly what you wanted to hear.
And everybody that you care about...
And for the first time in my life I wasn't scared of nothing, you know?
And he said that it wasn't really a star at all. It was actually...
And how guilty would we feel if we destroyed a few microbes on an anthill?
And I believe you've already met our tireless research assistant, Mr. Fisher...
And I suppose the fact that I discovered the message means that I have PR value.
And I'll grant them their wish soon enough.
And in breaking news...
And leave the LO frequency where it is.
And maybe that's an understatement.
And now yesterday they start broadcasting primes. Why?
And pretty soon they called my dad and they asked him...
And tell Willie to break out the big boy.
And that means when you put them together with all the radio telescopes...
And the message itself. To put something like this together...
And then I felt something. I don't know, I...
And there are many governments, business interests...
And there's no chance that...
And they don't want the high priestess of the desert using them anymore.
And two probabilities. One, there is intelligent life...
And we continue this final edition of our Maxwell House Good News of 1939.
And when can I get some dish time?
And when it comes to my investments...
And yet every scientific instrument confirms...
And your career will be over.
Another signal, look at that.
Anyway, I've had my fill of life on the ground.
Are there other people out there in the universe?
Are we happier as a human race?
Are you anti technology? Are you anti science?
Are you feeling it down there?
Are you really gonna sit there and tell us we should just take this all...
Are you there?
Are you there?
Arecibo, right?
Aren't you...?
As a person of faith, I'm bound by a different covenant than Dr. Arroway.
As a scientist I must concede that. I must volunteer that.
As a scientist...
As soon as I found out about the Machine, I called the president.
Asshole.
Attendance at religious services has risen a dramatic 39 percent in recent days.
AWACS status is negative.
Awarded full scholarship, M.I. T, graduated magna cum laude.
Back home that's what we call an overcooked ham.
Beautiful.
Because I can't.
Because it's a historic opportunity. The world needs...
Being alone.
Bottom line is...
Boy, this is really gonna change the Miss Universe contest.
Brilliant and blue white.
Bring you tens of thousands of light years and then send you home without proof?
Brook's looking at the black hole at the center of M 87.
Buried within the message itself is the key to decoding it.
But a voice from the sky...
But before I do, I wish to make a small contribution.
But everything that I know as a human being, everything I am...
But for now, almost 2 full weeks after the message's arrival...
But I did. I did go.
But I guess I'd say...
But I have so many questions.
But I just... I wanna go on record one more time.
But I'm not stopping.
But other people need to see what I've seen...
But our goal is one and the same.
But right now my job is to protect American lives from any threat.
But that doesn't justify taking an alarmist position.
But the choice of these 10 candidates has not been without controversy.
But the headset didn't record a single image?
But the military presence arriving...
But there's a bad drive on 16.
But they have failed!
But they're also putting together a selection committee.
But what can I say to this?
But while our foundation arm has a mandate to support experimental programs...
But, uh... But...
But...
By doing this, you're willing to give your life.
By God, move all the fire and rescue personnel into position one.
Call her in the morning, tell her why you didn't show up.
Can I help you?
Can we hear all the way to China?
Can we talk about Einstein?
Catalogued November 4, 1982. Pulsar.
Center that segment.
Centering.
Certainly.
Changes in NSF policy gave rise to certain funding problems...
Chicago has all the stuff, but let me know how it goes.
Clearly, I've never been there, but...
Clever girl.
Come back?
Come in.
Come on, I got something for you to hear. Is this great?
Come on. It's like you're saying that science killed God.
Compass.
Confirm!
Confirmed, we have a good picture from Dr. Drumlins PRD.
Consortium officials had no comment, but sources within the delegation...
Continue.
Control, if you're reading me...
Controlled by Americans...
Convinced it has some dark military purpose.
Coordinates confirmed. Willie's checking the system now.
Copy that, 30 percent.
Copy that, 35 percent.
Copy that, 50 percent.
Copy that, Control. IPV is secure.
Copy that, Dynamics.
Copy that, K 4 WLD. How's the weather down there in Florida?
Copy that. Willie...
Copy, W 9 GFO. K 4 WLD here.
Could be a Trojan horse. We build it and out pours the entire Vegan army.
Could we talk to Jupiter?
Could we talk to the moon?
Could you face reality, please? Just this once, Ellie. We lost.
CQ, CQ, this is W 9 GFO. Is anybody out there?
CQ, CQ.
CQ, this is W 9 GFO here.
CQ, this is W 9 GFO here. Come back?
CQ, this is W 9 GFO here. Come back?
CQ, this is W 9 GFO.
CQ, this is W 9 GFO.
CQ, this is W 9 GFO. Come back?
CQ.
CQ...
Crew Ops, verify all pre test procedures are complete.
Dad, could we talk to Mom?
Dad, it's starting, you're gonna miss it.
Dad, there's another one. Hurry up.
Dad, this is Ellie.
Dad, this is Ellie. Come back.
Dad, what's that star there?
Dad!
Dad?
Dad?
Dad?
Dad.
Dad.
Dad.
Dad.
Dad.
Daddy, don't go.
Daddy?
David Drumlin is supervising the on site portion of the test.
David, explain this to me, please.
David, he's got something in his hand!
Davio, Dr. Vernon. Dr. Arroway.
Declination, plus 36 degrees, 46 minutes...
Deficit finance trips to the mall to buy more things...
Did you really think these stories wouldn't get out?
Didn't, uh, expect to see you here.
Different nations are being compensated in different ways. For example...
Digital microchip good for thousands of hours of recording.
Do me a favor, go get the blinds. There is a lot of glare.
Do we get to come back?
Do you copy? I want you to go off axis on 27 the second we're there.
Do you know where I can find, like, a really great dress?
Do you know where I can find, like, a really great dress?
Do you think there's people on other planets?
Doctor Arroway, despite your obvious enthusiasm...
Doctor, are you familiar with the scientific precept...
Doctor, both the IMC Board and the SI team reviewed the matter...
Doctor, do you understand that my job is to protect...?
Doctor, I'd like to propose an alternate hypothesis...
Doctor.
Doctor.
Doctor.
Doctoral work, Cal Tech...
Does anybody speak German?
Does it show?
Don't tell me.
Donna, we've been told the president will have only a few remarks...
Door alignment looks good.
Door is looking good.
Down here doing research about how technology affects Third World cultures.
Dozens of lives were lost.
Dr. Arroway, 95 percent of the world's population...
Dr. Arroway, get a picture, please? Get a photo over here?
Dr. Arroway, the press would like to ask you a few questions...
Dr. Arroway?
Dr. Arroway.
Dr. Arroway...
Dr. Arroway...
Dr. Clark said you wouldn't be able to wait. Your first shift is tonight.
Drumlin pulled the plug.
Drumlin. What is this? This his personal vendetta now?
Drumlin's coming in this Tuesday.
Earl Grey. No sugar, no milk, I believe.
Early testing indicated high predisposition...
Efforts continue around the clock.
Eighty percent.
Eleanor Ann Arroway...
Eli's studying Markarian 541, a major gamma ray source.
Ellie to Control, do you read me?
Ellie to Control, do you read me?
Ellie to Control.
Ellie, are you sure?
Ellie, do you copy?
Ellie, I know you must think this is all very unfair.
Ellie, just hold on tight.
Ellie, the IPV dropped straight through the Machine.
Ellie, the vibration is normal.
Ellie, this is Control. Do you copy?
Ellie, we are go for closure.
Ellie, we are showing green across the board.
Ellie, we're gonna proceed to button you up.
Ellie.
Ellie.
Everybody.
Everyone who watched saw exactly the same thing.
Exactly, why don't they speak English?
Exactly.
Exactly. Every time they detect a new civilization...
Excuse me, could we calm down here?
Excuse me, Dr. Drumlin, sir?
Excuse me, Miss Constantine, may I speak to you?
Explain this to me.
Faith?
Father, Theodore...
Fine. I'll start looking for other funding. I'll just start...
First rule in government spending:
Fish, what is the story over here? I thought Ellie was supposed to be on.
Five...
For purposes of this test...
For you, EI.
Forty five percent.
Forty percent.
Forty six.
Forty three separate remote cameras show exactly the same event.
Frank, look at the size of that son of a bitch!
Frequency 9.85.
From as long as I can remember, I've been searching for...
From whom I have taken so much.
Fully one third of the candidates are American.
Funny...
G levels are right on.
Gerry, can you confirm any vibration?
Gerry, execute the rapid shutdown sequence.
Get a job. Don't waste my tax dollars.
Get decryption people in here now. Lunacharsky is visiting at Cal Tech.
Get me the White House.
Give me another array status.
Glad you could make it, David.
Go back.
Go get ready to set the target frequency to manual the second we're aligned.
God created man in the form of himself, not in the form of monkeys!
God, I wish Kent was here.
Good afternoon.
Good evening, Mr. And Mrs. North America...
Good question, Larry.
Got it. Reading over 100 janskys.
Got it. Reading over 100 janskys.
Guys? Guys? Um...
Hadden?
Hail to Vega
Hail to Vega Hail to Vega, Hail to Vega
Harmonics in the green. G level 1.1.
He hardly lands for anyone.
He is not on the committee, Ellie.
He just resigned as science advisor. He wants to be the one to go.
He said, "You know why they called it Venus?"
He sure knows he's on TV!
He's got a bomb!
He's not supposed to be there.
He's the new head of the National Science Foundation. I'm trying to get an interview.
Health officials from around the world are concerned that the message from Vega...
Hello?
Her four are online, the rest are tracking in.
Here comes Ellie.
Here it is. J 1741 plus 2748.
Here we go.
Here, let me show you. See that?
Hey, Fish, did that investor from Houston ever get back to us?
Hey, hey, hey. Hi, I'm so glad you're back.
Hey, Kent. You were right.
Hey, listen, I don't know who you are, but you broke into the database...
Hey, watch it.
Hey.
Hi yo, Silver!
Hi, Kent. What are you doing up so early, huh?
Hi, Sparks.
Him! Take him! Security breach!
His latest book, Losing Faith, is currently number one...
Hoccam's razor. Sounds like some slasher movie.
Hokkaido Island.
Hold on, let me get you a chair.
Home?
Hope you guys are seeing what I'm seeing.
How do you explain this, doctor?
How do you know that you're not deluding yourself?
How is that new office?
How long was I gone?
How long will it take to decode it?
How you doing?
How'd it go?
How's the spying tonight, guys? Come on.
However, in light of Dr. Arroway's long experience in these matters...
However, the appointment to the committee of Michael Kitz...
Huh? Confrontational? Me? What do you mean?
Hula Hoops.
Hundred percent target velocity.
Hydrogen times pi. Told you.
I actually listen to them a lot. It's a remnant of a supernova.
I assume you read the confidential report from the investigating committee?
I believe I've already answered that question.
I believe that makes the question more than relevant.
I believe we are ready to move on to your final statement.
I believe, um...
I came with Kitz.
I can hear can it on the headphones. We gotta be sure about this.
I can't prove it. I can't even explain it.
I can't.
I consider you one of my most valuable long term investments.
I couldn't imagine living in a world where God didn't exist.
I couldn't live with the whole celibacy thing.
I didn't expect to be getting a message like this from you.
I didn't realize that I was out.
I didn't vote for you to go...
I don't know, I think it's worth a human life.
I don't know, Sparks.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't make a very good research subject. I'm just not very quotable.
I don't think I can. I gotta work.
I don't think so.
I don't understand the relevance of the question.
I don't want excuses. Whoever is responsible, I want their head.
I find it convenient to keep my interests...
I flipped through it.
I got it! I got it, I got it! I'm patched in.
I got my Masters in Divinity...
I gotta go.
I guess that means...
I had no idea.
I had no idea.
I had no idea.
I had no idea.
I had no...
I had to see you one more time.
I have guests so rarely, it's important to me that they feel welcome in my home.
I have made no decision to run for Congress, I have announced no candidacy.
I have to believe that an intelligence that advanced...
I have to tell you, Sparks...
I hear her!
I hear her. Barely, but she's there.
I hear the locals, they call it El Radar.
I hope you're right, doctor. I really do.
I intend to use the VLA as my command post.
I join Dr. Bergeron...
I just couldn't in good conscience vote for a person...
I just spent the last 13 months...
I know a good bet when I see one.
I know it's hard to understand this now...
I know you don't have much time.
I mean, for me, I'd need proof.
I mean, I'm a reasonably intelligent guy, but this...
I mean, we're becoming a synthesized society...
I missed you.
I must have gone through a wormhole.
I need a full systems check.
I need you to be professional, people. Settle down.
I never got to know my mother.
I read your book.
I should have kept some medicine in the downstairs bathroom.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I think I speak for us all when I thank you for your patience.
I think it's because we're looking for the meaning. What is the meaning?
I think it's great that you listen. Most people don't do that anymore.
I think that hurt my chances with that interview. What do you think?
I think we're pretty harmless.
I told my dad that I didn't want him to go.
I told the truth up there.
I wanna show you something.
I want all of these people out of here.
I want that emergency response team up on the gantry now.
I want you to know, whatever happens, as far as I'm concerned...
I was especially interested in the section on Arroway's video unit.
I was given something wonderful, something that changed me forever.
I was gonna say a sense of adventure.
I was thinking...
I wish I could share that.
I wish the world was a place where fair was the bottom line.
I wish...
I work on a project called SETI.
I would encourage you...
I would hate to see everything we stand for...
I wouldn't want to.
I, for one, believe her.
I...
I'd say at least a healthy grant.
I'll answer your questions at the end, but first a few corrections.
I'll be there.
I'll get the medicine.
I'll tell you one thing about the universe, though.
I'll tell you, this is very exciting from up here.
I'm against the men who deify it at the expense of human truth.
I'm also looking for this guy David Drumlin.
I'm glad to be joined by my science and technology advisor.
I'm go here.
I'm going through some kind of a tunnel.
I'm going to recommend we militarize this project.
I'm gonna hit him up on my way to L.A.
I'm gonna miss my mother's birthday party.
I'm gonna need a bigger antenna.
I'm gonna see if I left anything.
I'm gonna travel 26 light years to commit suicide?
I'm in another wormhole now.
I'm moving the rest of them now. I need you to confirm the coordinates.
I'm not against technology, doctor.
I'm okay to go.
I'm okay to go.
I'm okay to go.
I'm picking up a moderate vibration here.
I'm proud of what we've achieved as a species...
I'm reading 10 kilohertz!
I'm really confused.
I'm really happy for you.
I'm saying you might have consulted us.
I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, sweetheart.
I'm sorry I wasted your time.
I'm sorry I'm late, ma'am.
I'm sorry.
I'm still settling in. They already wanna take half my budget and give it to the Pentagon.
I'm sure we all agree that is the case...
I'm... There's...
I've been asked, yes.
I've been to Sunday school a few times.
I've crossed paths with this guy.
I've got an offset carrier here. I think it's audio.
I've got some more corporate stops on the East Coast for you.
I've had a long time to make enemies, doctor.
If I have to go it alone, I'll go it alone. I've done it before.
If I'd known it was gonna take three planes, I might've reconsidered.
If it's attention you want, you got that. Vega.
If only one out of a million of those had planets...
If the president wishes to stay this course...
If the source of the signal is so sophisticated, why the remedial math?
If there's a more clear case of eminent domain, I've never seen it.
If this discovery is confirmed...
If this is a chance to find out even just a little part of that answer...
If you came back, if you survived at all, which...
If you could hear me...
If you could hear, I am okay to go.
If you should meet these Vegans...
If you're asking when we'll find out what the purpose of that machine is...
If you're right about there being a more significant transmission...
Impossible?
In 1936 a very faint television signal...
In a minute, Sparks. I'm almost done.
In a related story, last night's raid...
In all our searching...
In that regard, I am obligated to assume the worst.
In the meantime, my office has made out a preliminary budget.
In the meantime, you won't be published, won't be taken seriously.
Inside the core, the weather's beautiful.
Instructions to acquaint us with their colonization procedures.
IPV escape system is armed.
IPV power transfer.
Is it any wonder that we've lost our sense of direction?
Is it possible that it didn't happen?
Is it true, huh? Did you pull the plug?
Is that what you think? Delusional?
Is the world fundamentally a better place because of science and technology?
Is there anyone who might have been up to the challenge?
Isn't it true that the contractors, like Hadden Industries...
Isn't it true that these wormholes you speak of are merely theoretical predictions?
Isn't she a beauty?
Isn't that correct, doctor?
It could be AWACS out of Kirtland jamming us.
It could be the first volume of an Encyclopedia Galactica.
It doesn't make any sense. The system is too young...
It doesn't matter anyway, Hadder's funding us for another two years.
It is our belief that the message contains instructions...
It means that all things being equal...
It must be confirmed by other scientists.
It was God.
It was largely mathematical, and in spite of reports you may have seen to the contrary...
It will come down through the center of the rings and into the Machine's core.
It would be a dynamite place to do serious SETI...
It would be like us going out of our way to destroy microbes on an anthill in Africa
It would be like us going out of our way to destroy microbes on an anthill in Africa
It'll do.
It's a star.
It's a subway.
It's a triple... No, quadruple system.
It's beautiful.
It's becoming completely translucent. I can't describe it. I can't even explain it.
It's bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before.
It's bordering on translucence. But the system is intact.
It's crazy.
It's digital...
It's gotta be some kind of electromagnetic field.
It's highly unlikely they would understand, and people need to understand...
It's just an old habit. You know, it makes it feel more real.
It's like some kind of a transit system.
It's made of scholars, theologians, scientists, philosophers...
It's never been made public, of course.
It's no coincidence that they're using primes.
It's not in the neighborhood.
It's not just Drumlin. There's been enormous pressure from other scientists as well.
It's only 26 light years away.
It's over.
It's over. We're cooked.
It's quite simple, really.
It's so beautiful.
It's the moment of the acquisition of technology.
It's the moment of the acquisition of technology.
It's the same people who, again and again...
It's two different interlaced frames. I'm framing one.
It's Vega.
Its implications are as far reaching and awe inspiring as can be imagined.
Jackpot.
Japan made headlines when it announced it would forego candidate representation...
Jeremy Roth, CNN, Soccorro, New Mexico.
Jesus. I could pick it up on my...
Just hang out and sleep in. And there's a bunch of food in the fridge.
Just leave your number. I'll call you.
Kent.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are ready for startup.
Let me first say that your...
Let me first say that your...
Let me say that again. The message is completely benign.
Let me say that again. The message is completely benign.
Let us deal with this on the facts.
Let's hear from someone whose organization...
Let's just calm down and pull up the star file on Vega.
Like a bolt from the blue it came.
Listen to that.
Look, forget about it and hold the queue.
Look, I don't consider what could be...
Look, Palmer, nobody's saying this isn't dangerous, all right?
Look.
Looks like we have a normal startup.
Make me a liar, Fish.
Many have come to protest, many to pray...
Many international observers are asking why.
Many of these are the same experts who have been consulting...
Many others.
Mark.
Mathematics is the only truly universal language.
Maybe because 70 percent of the planet speaks other languages.
Maybe he wanted to explore and exploit new technologies...
Maybe I can help deal you back in.
Maybe someday they'll come back.
Maybe they didn't grow up there. Maybe they're visiting.
Meanwhile, months of debate finally reached a conclusion last week...
Mechanical, initiate IPV closure sequence.
Might save your life someday.
Mike, please. We're only in line with Vega so many hours a day.
Mm mm. I'm a writer. I'm writing a book.
More on the quest for the message's meaning, after this.
Moses with a few billion new commandments.
Mother, Joanna, died from complications during childbirth.
Mr. Hadden, where are you?
Mr. Hadden?
Mr. Hadden.
Mr. President.
Must've been a starquake.
My God!
My God.
My guest tonight is author and theologian Palmer Joss.
My hope here is that we can find a common ground...
My little room has one hell of a view.
My problem is this:
Myself, I have one final question, Dr. Arroway.
Negative, everything looks good here.
Negative. Ellie, you're breaking up.
Ninety percent. We're detecting some structural instability.
No good. Hold the sequence. I'm gonna take a direct reading.
No quotes. No quotes. Scout's honor. Just a good meal, good company.
No words. No words...
No, I'm glad you came.
No, maybe not out...
No, no. I've wanted to look at this sector for weeks.
No, not at all.
No, not really.
No, Occam's Razor. It's a basic scientific principle. It says...
No, of course not. I understand.
No, they were gone long before we ever got here.
No, this... No, my intellect, it couldn't even touch this.
No, you, Ellie. You. You personally.
No.
No.
No...
Nobody knows more about these scenarios than I do. David, tell them...
None of this is real.
None of this is real.
NORAD's not tracking any snoops in this vector.
Not all.
Not even dying.
Not getting anything.
Not too bad, Mike.
Not unlike my L band, globular clusters work.
Nothing happened.
Nothing would give me more pride than to...
Nothing, as long as your motive is the search for truth.
Now all it requires on our part is...
Now all we really need is the money.
Now get some sleep.
Now I remember why I took that desk job.
Now the question that's on everyone's mind:
Now these scientists...
Now, because of the effects of general relativity, what I experienced as 18 hours...
Now, doctor, let me show you what we saw.
Now, I agree with Mr. Rank that there are unavoidable...
Now, I'm going to recommend that Dr. Drumlin coordinate the decryption effort.
Now, if it had been religious in nature, it should have taken the form...
Now, it's your discovery.
Now, no two are alike and we've uncovered over 10,000 already.
Now, our internal numbers show support for this is incredibly soft.
Now, we thought they were just noise, but they're actually data...
Now, we've gotten approval to buy the telescope time from the government.
Now, you tell me. What is more likely here?
Now?
Nuts.
Of course.
Oh, Ellie, that's a beauty.
Oh, God!
Oh! Perfect cast. Come on, fishy.
Okay to go.
Okay to go. I'm okay to go.
Okay to go. I'm okay.
Okay, 101.
Okay, I've gotta keep talking.
Okay, look, I understand...
Okay, point source confirmed.
Okay, thanks, Ian. Keep tracking and we'll get back to you.
Okay, they understand that. You're at the top of a very short list.
Okay?
Okay.
Okay. I'm gonna take a look and show you what we got.
Old soldiers never die. They just...
Old soldiers never die. They just...
On a really, really clear day.
On my mark.
One down, a couple billion to go.
One.
Only a story that, to put it mildly, strains credibility.
Only you're not.
Only, this one can be kept secret.
Or incredibly nuts.
Or it might turn out to be some kind of a transport.
Or that he simply doesn't exist at all and that we created him...
Or that your experience is the result of being...
Or that your experience is the result of being...
Or what about breaking the sound barrier...
Or what's the one after that?
Or, "Sieg Heil, you're our kind of people."
Orange juice.
Other people believe it might open up a doorway to some other dimension.
Our job was to select someone to speak for everybody.
Our organization will not be placated with flowery New Age rhetoric...
Over 63,000 in all.
Over half a trillion dollars were spent.
Pages and pages of data.
Palmer Joss.
Palmer...
Partially polarized set of moving pulses, amplitude modulated.
Patch the recording into the image processor.
Pensacola, Florida.
Pensacola.
People have been looking at Vega for years with no results.
People, we are still go.
People, we have intermittent comm, but we are go.
Perhaps this was his final altruistic gesture...
Please, sit, doctor.
Plug it in, plug it in.
Plus 36 hours, 47 minutes and 1 second.
Poetry.
Position confirmed. We've got 4.4623 gigahertz, confirmed.
Power levels indicate a good start.
Pretty good. That's the farthest yet.
Proof?
Prove it.
Reverend Joss, what do you believe? What do you believe?
Reverend Joss! Reverend Joss!
Reverse values.
Right ascension, 18 hours, 36 minutes, 56.2 seconds!
Right ascension, 18 hours, 36 minutes, 56.2 seconds.
Right ascension, 18 hours, 36 minutes, 56.2 seconds.
Right behind you. The tall guy.
Right. Some kind of a doomsday machine.
Robert Kennedy was shot in that ballroom.
Roger that. Ellie, this is Control. Do you copy?
Roger, Control. I'm ready.
Roger, David. It's looking good here.
Rotate 90 degrees counterclock...
Run every frequency you can think of.
Russell met with reporters this afternoon at his Houston home.
S. R. Hadden, a brilliant and complicated man.
S. R. Hadden.
S. R. Hadden...
Science fiction, right?
Science fiction.
Science must first be accountable to the people who are paying for it, the taxpayers.
Science, in this case.
Screw Drumlin. We're gonna raise the money. We're going to New Mexico.
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence?
Security, move emergency response team into position one.
Security, stage one alert.
See...
Selectors and selectees mingling around?
Senator, I believe that the Machine opened up a wormhole...
SETI, man. That's fringe.
Seventy percent.
She's alive. Get the White House. Get the president on the phone.
She's feeling the same thing they felt at the Cape at this point.
She's through! She is in the net.
Shuttle Endeavor is in sleep mode.
Sir, they're ready for you out at the site.
Sit down. And we could use some help with the spectrum analysis.
Sixty five percent.
Skeptic, huh?
Small moves, Ellie.
Small moves.
Small moves.
Small step for man, one giant leap for...
Smile, folks. We're on.
So am I.
So beautiful.
So I was lying there, just looking at the sky.
So I'll just come right to the point, shall I?
So if it's just us...
So is this kosher? Fraternizing with the enemy?
So it turns out there's life on other planets.
So we canned the other 25 through a series of search algorithms.
So what? It's my life.
So with this very elementary foundation, they have given us a kind of...
So your answer would in fact be that you don't believe in God.
Some believe that the rings function as some sort of an accelerator or something...
Some of that criticism from scientists.
Somebody get a TV monitor.
Someone who...
Someone with extraordinary technical expertise...
Something like that must really chap his ass, huh?
Something may go wrong.
Something never before experienced...
Sometimes we just have to accept it as God's will.
Sources close to the VLA report that the planet has been contacted...
Sources say the cost of the project...
Spacecraft? This system is full of debris. It would get clobbered.
Staring at static on TV for hours, listening to washing machines.
Stay on it, Fish, don't let it get away. If you lose it, scan the band.
Stay on top of the systems diagnostics.
Steve, we're approaching our abort limits.
Steve, we're real close.
Steve?
Strong sucker too.
Subsequently offered a teaching position at Harvard University...
Talk to me, guys.
Tell me something, doctor...
Tell me.
Ten, nine...
Test director, everything looks good up here. We're ready to go.
Test director, I'm feeling a very strange vibration.
Test initiation, on my mark.
Thank you, Elmer.
Thank you, Rachel. Hello.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks for being with us, Palmer.
Thanks for coming.
Thanks.
That a message from aliens results in a magical machine...
That continues to be my wish.
That he engineered this?
That is interesting, isn't it?
That more than any other question is one I personally would like to have answered.
That much? And about what I'd expect after what he had to say about you.
That signal has been sent back to us hugely amplified...
That signal left Earth at the speed of light...
That was a three, the one before it was a two.
That would be integers that are only divisible by themselves and one.
That's a good question. What do you think, huh?
That's a rather interesting position...
That's Cassiopeia.
That's gotta be tough.
That's my scientist.
That's not a star, it's a planet.
That's the moment where contact becomes possible.
That's the planet Venus.
That's very neat. You have no proof because they didn't want you to have any.
That's what I've been trying to tell everyone.
The Adolf transmission used 25 frames per second but we're receiving 50.
The Adolf transmission used 25 frames per second but we're receiving 50.
The big question everyone here is asking is, of course, what happens then?
The big question everyone here is asking is, of course, what happens then?
The Communist party...
The Communist party...
The content of that message is morally ambiguous at best.
The decryption team at the VLA has been working around the clock...
The fact is, we don't even know whether they believe in God.
The fact is, you don't know what it does. It could be anything.
The fact that it recorded static isn't what interests me.
The fact that something of this magnitude is being explored is another...
The important thing is that you all keep searching for your own answers.
The IPV dropped straight through.
The low oxygen, zero gravity environment...
The material is changing.
The message from Vega has caused thousands of believers and non believers...
The message was received Friday morning, 6:31 a.m. Mountain Standard Time.
The one that recorded the static.
The only way to monitor the signal is to get the cooperation of other stations.
The passenger pod will be released.
The people are in very good hands, Dr. Arroway.
The people of the world have a right to know what really happened.
The powers that be have been very busy lately...
The president has been in touch with heads of state from around the world...
The president is already beginning to feel the financial pinch.
The president made a statement, calling the message from Vega...
The President met with his top advisors today...
The president's just gone international to spread the risk and cost...
The pulse sequenced through every prime number between two and 101.
The pursuit of truth.
The question that I'm asking is this:
The reason I didn't vote for you to go was a good reason, but it wasn't the real one.
The rest of the candidates and myself, we fully understand the risks we're taking.
The Russian government was kind enough to give me accommodations on Mir.
The scene earlier today, when David Drumlin...
The security in Hokkaido has been incredibly tight.
The suicide note of the leader of the terrorist group now believed responsible...
The systems integration site.
The technician. See him?
The technician. See him?
The test area is clear and go.
The test director has issued a go to enter the final countdown phase.
The transmitted specs never said anything about any chair...
The truth is, you're my last chance, so...
The U.S. Is shouldering an enormous percentage of the financial...
The universe is a pretty big place.
The usual.
The usual. Nouns, adverbs, adjective here and there.
The Very Large Array in New Mexico is the key to our chances for success.
The village is five miles away.
The White House has just released...
Then I could've gotten to it sooner.
Then why don't you simply withdraw your testimony and concede...
There are a thousand reasons we can think of for you to have this...
There he is. The man with his finger on the spiritual pulse of the nation.
There is no direct evidence, no.
There it is again. It's coming from the bottom.
There it was all the time, staring you in the face.
There may be an unforeseen mechanical failure.
There.
There's 400 billion stars...
There's a carnival atmosphere at Cape Canaveral...
There's a general store in the cantina. They can order anything from San Juan.
There's a light source ahead.
There's a light. Do you see that? I'm seeing some...
There's another one. Come on, hurry up, Dad!
There's no reason to believe that their intentions are hostile.
There's no way that's a natural phenomenon.
There's nothing but noble gases and carbon compounds and you're wasting your time.
There's something I gotta say to you.
They all...
They do, if you think like a Vegan.
They gotta line up somehow.
They have formed a group of international candidates.
They said that's how it's been done for billions of years.
They said you've been up at Owens Valley working under Drumlin.
They should have sent a poet.
They still want an American to go, doctor.
They want us out.
They will be actively participating on site during the construction process.
They're alive.
They're alive.
They're gonna build it.
Thirty five percent.
This and other contextual clues...
This has structure. I'm hearing structure.
This is CNN Breaking News.
This is Eleanor Arroway...
This is really something.
This is supposed to be a civilian facility.
This is supposed to be a civilian facility.
This is the product of years of exploration...
This is the way it's been done for billions of years.
This is yet another example of science intruding into matters of faith.
This isn't a person to person call.
This key section, uncovered tonight and obtained exclusively by CNN...
This machine...
This means they have been reacting to TV signals...
This morning's detection of an unidentified radio source from deep space...
This was the key...
This won't be understood, not now...
Those look like engineering schematics, almost like blueprints.
To better explain to you the events of the last 48 hours...
To fake a signal from Vega...
To take a chance on something...
Tremendous EMI levels around the Machine. All field measurements are off scale.
Try back a little bit. You had something there.
Try begging for some of that Hollywood money.
Try not to be too confrontational.
Try zooming out again.
Try zooming out.
Twenty million people died defeating that son of a bitch...
Twenty two stations worldwide now confirming the signal.
Two, three, five, seven, those are all prime numbers.
Uh oh. Looks like it's gonna be a long night.
Uh...
Uh... These are government owned telescopes, they can lease to whomever.
Um...
Unfortunately, we don't live in that world.
Vega is currently below our horizon...
Vega.
Vega.
Vega. I scanned it a bunch of times at Arecibo. It was negative results, always.
Video looks good.
Wait a minute, let me get this straight.
Wait a minute. This is a privately funded operation.
Wait a minute. Those are numbers.
Wait, are you a student or something?
Wait, you're saying you wanna do away with all pure research now?
Wait. Hitler and his politics have nothing to do with this.
Wanna take a ride?
We are at 30 percent.
We are at 50 percent. All systems nominal.
We are moments away from the initiation of the drop sequence.
We are monitoring what has actually happened.
We are taking what we believe is factually appropriate steps.
We could put together a kick ass ad hoc SETI program.
We didn't build it.
We don't know who did.
We don't know. It might be some type...
We found a series of markers on the top of each frame.
We have auxiliary booster ignition.
We have begun the full scale test of Earth's first system...
We know nothing of these creatures' values.
We need to get the best decryption people we have.
We need to stop wasting money on pie in the sky abstractions...
We now have the symbols for true and false...
We now take you to Jeremy Roth, who is reporting on events...
We only get one shot at this. Let's get it right.
We poor saps build whatever this is and blow ourselves to kingdom come.
We put it right smack in the middle.
We shop at home, we surf the Web...
We spoke with him earlier today.
We still have data. Heart and respiration are high but within limits.
We think this may be a beacon, some kind of an announcement...
We thought this might make things easier for you.
We were just listening.
We will continue to listen closely to what it has to say...
We won't be suppressing any opinions here today.
We'll be able to monitor the stresses and effects...
We'll be able to monitor the stresses and effects...
We'll take it from here.
We're go for ignition.
We're homeless.
We're locked. Systems check out, signal across the board. What's the frequency?
We're not seeing anything abnormal.
We're only leasing dish time from the government...
We're only leasing dish time from the government...
We're right on the money.
We're still trying to determine the nature of the malfunction...
We've all been most impressed with your candor...
We've got 112 janskys.
We've got some video animation...
We've got video on Ellie. Five by five.
We've tried over a million permutations.
Welcome back, Dr. C.
Welcome home.
Well, I do think you may have suffered some kind of an episode. Yeah, I do.
Well, I don't know, it must've been... The glitch in the timing is what threw me.
Well, I guess I should thank you for having bailed me out all that time.
Well, I just kept asking all these really annoying questions like:
Well, I suppose it would be:
Well, I... I guess I should...
Well, I'm glad you came.
Well, I'm not a crook.
Well, I'm still, you know, Crew Ops at the Control Center.
Well, it's complicated, Ellie.
Well, it's hardly yesterday, because the signal has been transmitting for 26 years.
Well, not if they used their laser blasters and photon torpedoes.
Well, this message is from a civilization that may be anywhere...
Well, we have no idea. It could be anything.
Well, whatever you do, make sure he doesn't monopolize the committee.
Well, yes, and I am forced to agree with you.
Well...
What am I doing here?
What are you studying up there?
What are you talking about, Kent?
What are you...? What are you writing?
What day is this?
What do you make of that, Fish?
What do you say...
What do you think, Doctor Arroway?
What do you want me to do about the source queue?
What do you want me to do about the source queue?
What does it mean, doctor?
What happened?
What happens now?
What I meant to say...
What if science simply revealed...
What interests me...
What malfunction?
What the hell...?
What was that?
What we do, we do for the goodness of all mankind.
What you don't understand, Ellie, is...
What?
What?
What?
What?
What?
What? This is my project.
What...? Somebody broke in...
What...? Something's happening.
What's going on, Steve? How is she? How is she?
What's wrong with science being practical? Even profitable?
What's your reading on the first and second order G levels?
Whatever the signal is, we better do something soon. Vega's gonna set.
When did you know you wanted to be an astronomer?
When I was about 8 years old, I was watching the sunset...
When I was unconscious, you downloaded my thoughts, my memory even.
When we combine this with the data from the amplification of the original signal...
Where the kind of idealism you showed at the hearing was rewarded...
Where?
Where's the girl?
Where's the primer?
Whether or not their president is a crook.
Which is exactly what the pursuit of science is.
Which should be over there soon.
Which will need help to receive and decode.
While there has been some progress, the official line remains a cautious one.
Who are we gonna call now?
Who gets to go, though?
Who gets to go?
Who let you in there, huh?
Who would make the best astronomers? I mean, think about it.
Who's right? Well, that's what today's test is all about.
Who've polluted our air, who've poisoned our water.
Why build one when you can have two at twice the price?
Why can't we just trust the original...?
Why did you do it?
Why is the default position of the egghead set that aliens would always be benign?
Why not? They've been making money off of aliens for years, right?
Why?
Why?
Will history repeat itself?
Will you have dinner with me tonight?
Willie, patch it back and give me the off axis.
Willie's right. If we go public with this and we're wrong, that's it.
With a piece of engineering this complex...
With the prime there's another signal. Looks like a TV transmission.
Within the layering of the matrix, we have these basic equations:
Would you consider yourself...
Would you like me to quote you?
Wouldn't peg him as a Polo man.
Wow.
Wow. Man, that is out there.
Yeah, I sure have, Larry.
Yeah, I was. He died when I was 9 years old.
Yeah, just a minute.
Yeah, right o.
Yeah, sure. Okay.
Yeah, well, this one doesn't fit, either.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. Go, Ellie.
Yeah. This guy, he shouldn't be there. I know him.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yes, and when we apply this to the rest of the message...
Yes, Mr. Joss.
Yes, of course!
Yes, sir.
Yes, verified. I'm go.
Yes, well, if nothing else...
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes. Very much.
You admit you have absolutely no physical evidence to back up your story?
You are far too promising a scientist to be wasting your gifts on this nonsense.
You can see over there, we're building 45 brand new dishes.
You can't see it now, but I'm doing you a favor.
You can't think that a civilization sending this would intend it just for Americans.
You come to us with no evidence, no record...
You compromised our security codes.
You could be marooned, unable to return.
You could call me a man of the cloth...
You could say that.
You didn't go anywhere.
You find your way home, all right?
You found the primer.
You get people to go in it and fly like birds. Ridiculous, right?
You go home.
You graduated from high school in 1979...
You have had quite a ride this last couple of years.
You have your money.
You have your mother's hands.
You hear me?
You know the Very Large Array in New Mexico?
You know those interlaced frames that we thought were noise?
You know, Fish, I was thinking.
You know, I'm not trying to push you.
You know, there are four hundred billion stars out there...
You know, to just step back for one minute and look at the big picture.
You live here?
You should feel fortunate.
You wanna get out of here?
You wanna hear something nutty?
You were right all along.
You would need a satellite to transmit the signal, but it would be impossible to...
You'd need a satellite and need launch capabilities to put the satellite into orbit.
You'll see.
You're a priest?
You're an incredibly brave woman, Ellie.
You're an interesting species...
You're capable of such beautiful dreams...
You're close to him, aren't you?
You're implying that this was all some kind of a hoax?
You're living on a space station?
You're not gonna believe this.
You're not real.
You're on it.
You're online, Kent, go ahead.
You're online, Kent, go ahead.
You're patched in.
You're right.
You're willing to die for it.
Your dad, did you love him?
Your dad...
Your discovery, all of this. It must be a real vindication.
Your four are online, the rest are tracking in.
Your four are online, the rest are tracking in...
4.46, 23 gigahertz.
1941, a date which will live...
1941, a date which will live...
A little chilly out here. Yeah, this is nice.
A statement confirming a message from deep space...
Actually... The broadcast from the '36 Olympics...
And two! You're making a decision...
Anything else? Those were the highlights.
Are you reading me? That's affirmative.
Are you reading this? Negative, we're seeing only interference.
Are you ready? Yeah, go ahead.
Are you? Mr. Joss, the president is waiting.
Begging is good for the soul. We'll see about that.
But I... Small moves, Ellie.
Can we hear all the way to Alaska? Yeah, on a really clear day.
Can we hear all the way to California? I don't see why not.
Can we hear all the way to New York? Sure.
Can you clean it up any more than that? I'm working on it.
Check off axis. Uh huh. On it.
Comm 1, Give me Ellie's PRD. Video unit recording and transmitting.
Communications? Go.
Confirm! Boss has a bogey!
Congratulations, David. Glad you could come.
Cracker Jack? No, thanks.
Crew Ops? Nothing wrong with Elmer.
David, can you hear me? Yes, I hear.
Designed to take a single human occupant into space...
Doctor, with all due respect to your... Excuse me.
Dr. Arroway, time to get ready. Thank you.
Dynamics, can you confirm vibration? Everything looks good here.
Dynamics? Go.
Electrical, reading in the core? Internal environment normal.
Ellie Arroway. Nice to meet you, Ellie.
Ellie, did I miss something? Huh?
Ellie, see you at the reception tonight? Yeah, I wouldn't miss it.
Ellie, see you at the reception tonight? Yeah, I wouldn't miss it.
Ellie? What happened?
Ellie. Kent. Kent Clark.
Excuse me, who are you? Michael Kitz, National Security Advisor.
Fish, let's get on the negative sideband. I'm already on it.
Fish! We're on it.
Five percent. Confirmed. We are at 5 percent.
Forty percent normal acceleration. Roger, confirm 40 percent.
Gerry, how are we looking? Looks good. We're underway.
Get me Drumlin on a secure loop, please. You got him.
Hear what? Harmonic.
Here, I need you to sign... ...as well as his cologne.
Hey, Dad? Yeah?
Hey. Hi there. How you doing?
Holy shit. Okay, okay.
How was the trip? I've had better.
How you doing in there, EI? Kent?
I don't get it. Prime numbers.
I give. Vampires!
I got one for you. What?
I have a big problem. Yes?
I take it you know him? Mm hm.
I understand. Ellie...
I was looking for patterns in the chaos. Doesn't matter, we're a joke to them.
Initiate secondary drive systems. Initiating auxiliary booster sequence.
Is it this guy? Yeah.
Is that you? That's a big affirmative.
Is this some test? No, no tests.
It's just noise. Trying frame two.
It's nice to smell you again, Mr. Kitz. You too.
It's so good to see you, Ellie. You too.
Just do me a favor. Yeah.
Life support? Go.
Listen to that. I'll get on it. Headsets.
Listen. I hear it.
Makes sense to me. All right.
Mechanical, you still happy? Roger that.
Mechanical, you still okay? Roger, chief.
Mechanical? Go.
Mechanical? We're good.
Mind if I sit down? Sure.
Oh, you're... I've got some mail for you. ...resulted in the discovery of this video.
Okay to go. She says she's okay to go.
Okay. Ellie...
Okay. What's going on?
Pod systems? Go
Praise the Lord! You're wasting my tax dollars!
President called an emergency meeting. Yeah, I imagine he would.
Roger. Gerry, what do you think? I'm still go.
Safety? Go.
Saturn. Could we talk to Saturn? Mm hm.
Send it, Willie. Okay, here it comes.
Seven. Seven.
She is alive. Put her on the PA.
She's doing all the dishes. All systems nominal.
Shh! What?
Special relativity. Yeah.
Systems? Go.
Test start. Rings are unlocked.
Thank you. Sir...
Thank you. Welcome.
Thank you. You're welcome.
That's not funny. How else are we gonna explain it?
The contents could be extremely sensitive. You want to classify prime numbers?
The Lord is God! Praise God.
The pad leader has issued the order... Thank you.
The White House. Mr. Joss.
Thirty five percent. Subsystems, are you ready?
This doesn't make any sense. If you... Excuse me, Dr. Arroway.
This is nuts. Excuse me...
Transport? There's no proof of that.
Vega? Can't be.
We've got 4 percent. We're confirming 4 percent.
Well, I understand we're having a little... Good to see you too.
Well, perhaps... Listen, I need to make one thing very clear.
What is going on? Another signal.
What the hell is he talking about? Can anyone say grandstanding?
What's going on? I don't know. Hang on.
What's the peak intensity? Coming up.
Where are you, K 4 WLD? Come back? Pensacola. Over.
White Sands? On this frequency? No.
Who are all these people? I have no idea.
Why did you contact us? You contacted us.
Why is that, doctor? We pose no threat to them.
Would be impossible. Impossible?
You want the new data? Yeah, the new frequency we just recorded.
...a former astronaut...
...a legendary power broker and manipulator in perhaps his final bid for immortality.
...a major pain in the ass, and obsessed with a field of study...
...a spiritual person?
...a tunnel through the fabric of space time, also known as an Einstein Rosen Bridge.
...about today's announcement...
...advised to provide enrichment activities along these lines...
...advisor to two presidents...
...all over the world...
...all right, and if just one out of a million of those had life...
...all that we have fought for for a thousand generations...
...all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one.
...almost two full years early.
...an interesting mix.
...and 26 years later arrived in the vicinity of the star we call Vega.
...and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press.
...and as a civilization.
...and concluded that the design impact is negligible.
...and every possible security measure is being taken.
...and he's our first ambassador to outer space?
...and how rare and precious we all are.
...and I asked my dad, "What's that bright star over there?"
...and I promise I will do my best to represent my nation...
...and I'd like you to bring your scientific expertise to bear on it.
...and if just one out of a million of those had intelligent life...
...and in multiple dimensions.
...and its passenger, Eleanor Ann Arroway.
...and more cut off from each other than at any other time in human history.
...and more like science fiction.
...and such horrible nightmares.
...and that he won't be taking any questions from the press.
...and the hard work has finally paid off.
...and then decided not to give any proof of his existence?
...and were permitted only one question to ask of them...
...and winner of the National Academy of Sciences lifetime award...
...and your stamina.
...appears to be completely benign in nature.
...appears to be completely benign in nature.
...appears to now be the front runner for the Machine seat.
...are making those contributions in exchange for technology rights?
...as 10 candidates were selected by the IMC...
...as a show of German superior technology.
...as pawns in the biggest, most elaborate, most expensive hoax of all time?
...as police in three German divisions clashed with neo Nazi protesters.
...as soon as they're done with Dr. Drumlin.
...as the International Machine Consortium...
...as we continue the search for answers and for knowledge...
...at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
...at the Very Large Array near Socorro, New Mexico.
...at which point you came to my attention.
...because I don't wanna lose you.
...believes in a supreme being in one form or another.
...betrayed...
...born 25th August, 1964...
...break through any obstacles that may have kept us apart.
...built by the sharing of knowledge with a neighbor in our universe.
...but at the same time we feel emptier...
...but certainly being handed your hat.
...but I think what Mr. Joss is in fact asking...
...but it's so far away you'll never contact it in your lifetime.
...but most have come to participate in what has become the best show in town.
...but mostly it's for the reasons we can't think of.
...but the apocalypse to come...
...but the important thing is you're okay.
...but there's a bad drive on 16. Copy that?
...but we aren't always meant to know why things happen the way they do.
...by some of the world's most distinguished scientists.
...by the nations representing the Machine Consortium...
...can decide the most suitable course of action. Understood?
...can neither be confirmed nor denied.
...celestial event...
...coming from a man on a crusade against the evils of technology...
...coming into rooms like this and talking to people like you.
...considered to be the leading American candidate for the Machine seat...
...coordinating efforts for Third World churches.
...could feel that awe and humility and hope.
...De Pere, Wisconsin.
...did so conscientiously until his death...
...Dr. Arroway?
...Dr. David Drumlin, special science advisor to the president.
...Dr. Drumlin will be on top of the gantry crane that's over the Machine.
...dramatically increasing the sensitivity of radio telescopes.
...eight...
...enormous financial resources...
...even religious leaders that would like to see me depart this earth.
...falling over each other to position themselves for the game of the millennium.
...Father Joss.
...five, four...
...for building something, some kind of machine.
...for humanity, for the history of history.
...for physics, geometry, chemistry. Next frame, Ellie.
...for the explosion in Florida this week.
...for the time being, she will continue to direct operations at the VLA...
...four...
...from hundreds to millions and millions of years ahead of us.
...from myocardial infarction, November 10, 1974.
...general scientific vocabulary.
...good luck.
...has been accused of conducting its own inquisition:
...has been received by American scientists. Claire Shipman is at the White House.
...has nothing to do with anything...
...has raised a number of eyebrows on Capitol Hill.
...has unexpectedly dropped out of the running.
...have brought us to the brink of destruction.
...have disclosed that Dr. Arroway...
...have had their chance.
...he has been expecting your call. One moment, please.
...hosts as much a media event as a systems test.
...how tiny and insignificant...
...I accept this great honor...
...I always believed that the world is what we make of it.
...I always do my homework.
...I am okay to go. Okay to go.
...I don't believe that there is data either way.
...I rely on empirical evidence, and in this matter...
...I was a hell of an engineer.
...I'm turning you over to the leader of the team that made this remarkable discovery...
...if he wouldn't mind just keeping me home from now on.
...if it is just us...
...in a great, big hurry to get to the next...
...in all of human history.
...in exchange for the systems integration subcontract.
...in expressing thanks for your patience, Dr. Arroway.
...inside a geometric structure of some kind.
...interlaced with the frames of the original Hitler image...
...is each other.
...is exactly what you found, Doctor Arroway.
...is spiraling to more than a third of a trillion dollars...
...is that it recorded approximately 18 hours of it.
...is the message was written in the language of science.
...is the one thing that science hasn't been able to give them."
...it poses still others, even more fundamental.
...it seems like an awful waste of space.
...it should be somebody who is fluent in the language the message was given in.
...it will be one of the most stunning insights into our universe...
...it'd be an awful waste of space.
...just in our galaxy alone.
...known as Occam's razor?
...knows what they're doing.
...let alone life or a technological civilization.
...making it rocket away at near the speed of light.
...making this what may be the most expensive single project...
...massive amounts of data which extend right to the higher harmonics.
...maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe never.
...might trigger a rash of mass suicides...
...miss.
...mobile.
...most cherished beliefs first.
...my planet and my God on this historic journey.
...not taken advantage of.
...not to inflame this situation beyond the facts.
...not unlike the recent cult deaths near San Diego...
...now lead scientists to believe that the message is, in fact...
...now, if it works, and you travel to Vega at even close to the speed of light...
...of a burning bush or a booming voice from the sky.
...of advanced communication device, or a teaching machine of some kind.
...of Hadden Industries. Of Hadden Industries.
...of the universe...
...on faith?
...on my mark.
...on that publications bestseller list.
...on the Machine's design and function.
...one of the most stunning insights into our...
...one thousand, one hundred and sixteen miles.
...one.
...only more questions.
...or a restraining harness or survival gear.
...or have you ever been a member of the Communist party?
...or rockets to the moon, or atomic energy or a mission to Mars?
...other than I want to devote all of my energy to this inquiry.
...passed instantaneously on Earth.
...presumably to the star Vega.
...recently acquired...
...regarding the latest efforts to decode the message.
...religious implications at stake here.
...representing a cross section of political, philosophical and religious views.
...returns you home without a single shred of proof?
...scientists here at the VLA still have no answers...
...sending its energy into this passenger pod...
...seven, six...
...shows an illustration of what is of a human figure...
...so complex, drawing on many disciplines...
...so cut off, so alone.
...so it can't have a planetary system...
...so we wouldn't have to feel so small and alone.
...some reason why we're here. What are we doing here? Who are we?
...someone perverse enough, eccentric enough to come up with the idea?
...something...
...suffer from some form of mass delusion.
...tells me it was real.
...that allowed us to decipher their language...
...that he considers tantamount to professional suicide.
...that he never existed in the first place?
...that is as old as humanity itself but essential to our people's future.
...that is greater than ourselves, that we are not... That none of us are alone.
...that science has ever uncovered.
...that tells us undeniably...
...that the official IAU communique was sent from this government facility.
...that there are some pretty serious religious overtones to all this.
...that we think are gonna fill these holes in our lives.
...that whisks you away to the center of the galaxy...
...that you want talking to your God for you?
...that you're a selector, I'm a selectee and we can't...
...the most important discovery of the human race nonsense, okay?
...the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable...
...the president has ordered a special inquiry.
...the reason for recording and documenting the mission.
...the simplest explanation tends to be the right one.
...the unwitting star in the farewell performance of one S.R. Hadden?
...the world was stunned by the announcement of a second Machine...
...then dropped out of seminary to do some secular humanitarian work...
...then we get to hear farther into space than anybody has ever heard before.
...there would be literally millions of civilizations out there.
...there's been a lot of criticism of late...
...they fax these construction documents from space.
...this is W 9 GFO. Do you copy?
...three...
...to clear the pad of all nonessential... Right this way, sir.
...to descend upon the VLA facility here in the desert of New Mexico.
...to describe it.
...to get our attention.
...to go windsurfing with your dad and a split second later...
...to improve the lives of the people who are footing the bill.
...to show you just how this machine, it is thought, will work.
...to unite the world in some common goal. Maybe all of the above.
...towards science and mathematics.
...transmitted the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games...
...transmitting on 14.2 megahertz.
...travel here through that transit system that you built?
...two...
...understanding that future discoveries will be kept in strictest confidence...
...unless there is some sort of minimal protection.
...until such time as the president...
...using our robot passenger, who we lovingly call Elmer.
...usually the situation, obviously a major malfunction.
...was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
...was the first television transmission that went into space.
...we can search more accurately than at any other conventional facility.
...we find this.
...we found these sections.
...we get these encrypted pages of text.
...we must confess that your proposal seems less like science...
...we pack a picnic tomorrow morning and hike up to old Mount Arecibo?
...we'd make a pretty good team.
...we've been giving these to the astronauts since the beginning of the space program.
...when you come back... If you come back.
...where you did breakthrough work on the lanthanide doped ruby maser...
...which might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment...
...which you turned down to pursue SETI work...
...who also happen to be...
...who doesn't believe in God.
...who has recently resigned as National Security Advisor...
...wholly owned subsidiaries...
...why do you think these aliens would go to all this trouble?
...will be gone, dead and buried.
...will vindicate our faith.
...you would respond with exactly the same degree of incredulity and skepticism?
...you'll only be 4 years older, but over 50 years would have passed here on Earth.
...you're gonna find his numbers going south like a duck.
"...and that the Machine's occupant will pay for that failure with their life."
"...at the celebration..."
"...deadly gases and sulfuric acid rain."
"...is that it's filled with..."
"...of the first Olympics of the new era has opened."
"...that this is simply beyond our capabilities, that this endeavor will fail..."
"...without destroying yourself?"
"Because they thought it was so beautiful and glowing."
"But what they didn't know..."
"God's Diplomat," according to The New York Times.
"How did you evolve? How did you survive this technological adolescence..."
"I declare the Games in Berlin..."
"Ironically, the thing that people are most hungry for, meaning...
"Meet me at noon. Must talk."
"There is every indication...
"Wow," I thought, "This is it! I'm hooked."