Cold War Searches for Intelligence

This talk will examine how CETI developed out of the Cold War, ultimately arguing that CETI is a particularly valuable discipline through which to analyze many of the major characteristics of Cold War science and geopolitics because its infrastructure, instruments, and ideologies reveal the dualities and contradictions of the era by promoting communication and internationalism while simultaneously depending on the military and imperialism. Understanding the Cold War origins of CETI is critical for analyzing contemporary searches for extraterrestrial intelligence, as it gives insight into how existing structures and theories came to exist, and how they are still in many ways subject to political and ideological influences.