The SETI League, Inc. Press Release No. 24-02

SETI League Press Release

SETI League Winding Down
For more information contact: Dr. H. Paul Shuch, Executive Director Emeritus
(570) 419-1229, or email drseti_at_verizon_dot_net

Little Ferry, NJ.., 12 October 2024 -- For three decades, the nonprofit, membership supported SETI League, Inc. was proud to emerge as a preeminent exemplar of participatory science. Founded in 1994, we dedicated our efforts to answering the fundamental question which has haunted humankind since first we realized that the points of light in the night sky are other suns: are we alone? Largely using radio telescopes and optical telescopes, SETI scientists have long sought to determine whether humankind is alone in the universe. Since Congress terminated NASA's SETI funding in 1993, The SETI League and other scientific groups have privatized this exciting research. But all good things must come to an end.

Since its inception, The SETI League maintained an office in New Jersey USA, and supported a cadre of volunteer regional coordinators all over the world. Now most of the founding members of The SETI League are aging, and all too many are deceased. Recently our founding President retired and relocated to Arizona, and our Executive Director Emeritus to California. Three months ago we lost our beloved Secretary/Treasurer, who ran the New Jersey office single-handedly. Lacking the staff or resources to continue serving our membership, our surviving Trustees have made the difficult decision to terminate operations at the end of the year.

Although our membership-supported nonprofit organization is winding down, many of our 1500 members in five dozen countries on all seven continents are continuing their independent research. You can read about their efforts on our extensive website, which we hope to maintain for educational and historical purposes. We are in the process of donating our remaining equipment and limited financial resources to other like-minded nonprofit organizations. It is our hope that our most active members will continue to attend and contribute to scientific conferences around the world, though as individuals rather than members of any formal organization. And, though we have yet to uncover definitive evidence of other technological civilizations in the cosmos, we remain confident that the holy grail of SETI science will not forever remain beyond humanity's grasp. We will continue to encourage SETI research worldwide, even as we continue to ask: are we alone?

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