Phelps Kranzler Drake Equation / Sara Urbaez / May 2, 2018 10:10 AM

  • This image may contain Electrical Device Antenna Telescope and Radio Telescope
    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    01
    The Green Bank Observatory is home to seven radio telescopes, and the signals they're hunting for can easily be drowned out by the human-made ones coming from Wi-Fi and cell phones.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    02
    Cedric Woodell, 15, lives on the same land his ancestors homesteaded in the 18th century. His family hunts bears and harvests maple syrup.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    03
    Bumper stickers plaster a vehicle in the Green Bank area, which attracts mystic scientists, gun-loving locals, and electromagnetic hypersensitives looking to escape technology.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    04
    Frank Ghigo works in the control room for the Green Bank Telescope, sometimes referred to by locals as the Great Big Thing.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    05
    Out-of-date equipment remains visible at the observatory for students to see.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    06
    Snow blankets a field near a road in Green Bank.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    07
    The Green Bank Telescope is the largest fully steerable telescope in the world, with a dish diameter of 100 meters. This is its receiving room, where signals are collected.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    08
    Jim "Chief" Warner is from one of the oldest local families in the region, where the US government created the National Radio Quiet Zone in 1958.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    09
    "Wi-Fi Refugee" Diane Schou maintains this small cabin as a starting point for electromagnetic hypersensitives who relocate to the area. It is completely off the grid, providing a safe haven for folks with electrical sensitivity.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    10
    For years, Wayne ran Wayne's Stop 'n' Shop, a gas station in the Green Bank Area that also offered gun cleaning and repair. Because of the limitations on technology, very few businesses exist in the Quiet Zone.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    11
    This is one of the longest-standing structures at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. It stores old equipment.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    12
    Technicians at the Green Bank Observatory like this one spend hours hunting for extraterrestrial life.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    13
    Diane Schou is a self-proclaimed "Wi-Fi Refugee." She moved to the Green Bank area years ago and now helps others relocate. She constantly monitors her home for any kind of electromagnetic waves.
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    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    14
    Tom grew up in the valley where the observatory is located, a place bordered by mountains that shield it from spurious radio transmissions.
  • This image may contain Electrical Device Telescope Antenna and Radio Telescope
    Andrew Phelps and Paul Kranzler
    15
    Scientists hunting extraterrestrial life at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia use giant computers connected to a huge radio telescope. The use the equipment to record signals originating in galaxies far, far away.
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    Isabel Latza
    16
    The title of Andrew Phelps and fellow photographer Paul Kranzler's book comes from the mathematical formula that calculates the probability of alien life.
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