Scientists on Red Alert as 40-Year Wait for Alien Reply Ends TODAY

Sci­en­tists are on high alert as the 40-year wait for a reply from aliens to a mes­sage beamed into space ends today.

In 1983, two drunk astronomers used a giant tele­scope to trans­mit draw­ings of human­i­ty to a star 16 light years away.

Now Japan­ese sci­en­tists believe today is the day those star-dwelling aliens could final­ly respond.

The team has read­ied a vast radio tele­scope to pick up a mes­sage from any intel­li­gent life around the star Altair.

Project leader Dr Shinya Naru­sawa said: “Altair may have a plan­et that can sus­tain life.”

The orig­i­nal cos­mic “email” includ­ed draw­ings of a lizard, ape, humans and the word “toast”.

Dr Naru­sawa explained: “A large num­ber of exo­plan­ets have now been detect­ed. Alien life is like­ly out there.”

But oth­er experts warn we may seem too prim­i­tive or dan­ger­ous to mer­it a reply.

Biopsy­chol­o­gist Dr Gor­don Gallup said ETs could fear “vio­lent” humans and wish to avoid us.

He added: “Maybe this explains the lack of proof of aliens — we pose too great a risk.”

Yet most sci­en­tists agree advanced civ­i­liza­tions do exist in our end­less universe.

SETI astronomer Dr Frank Drake said: “There are bil­lions of stars in the Milky Way sim­i­lar to our Sun.”

He esti­mates there could be 10,000 advanced alien races in our galaxy alone.

Dr Drake said: “If just one per­cent con­tact­ed oth­ers, there would be 100 civ­i­liza­tions send­ing radio waves.”

So could today final­ly be the his­toric moment when we detect a sig­nal prov­ing we are not alone?

All eyes are on the Japan­ese sci­en­tists’ radio tele­scope as the wait for an alien response final­ly ends.

Dr Naru­sawa said: “This could fun­da­men­tal­ly trans­form our under­stand­ing of the universe.”