Aliens could one day listen to a piece of West Virginia music history

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) — In 1977, Voyager probes I and II were launched from Cape Canaveral, bound for interstellar space, eventually becoming the farthest man-made objects from Earth. With them went a piece of West Virginia music history that could, one day, fall on the ears of alien life.

On board each of the Voyager probes is a collection of pictures, sounds and songs housed on a gold-plated record titled “The Sounds of Earth.” These 12-inch records were mounted to the outside of the probes and enclosed in a protective aluminum cover. They even came with their own needle and cartridge, saving any potential extraterrestrial listeners from having to go out and buy their own.

The Voyager missions were made possible because of a “once in a lifetime” planetary alignment that let the probes use gravity to slingshot around the gas giants and collect data along the way, all while reaching speeds that would have otherwise been impossible.

At some point during the mission’s development, it was decided the probes would carry a “time capsule,” a way for humanity to “communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials.” The committee that decided what would be on the record was headed by Carl Sagan, a planetary scientist and author.

“The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced spacefaring civilizations in interstellar space,” Sagan said . “But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet.”

Among the songs 27 songs included on the record was “Johnny B. Goode,” the Chuck Berry hit that features a piano performance from Fairmont native, Johnnie Johnson , who the song is named after. It was also the only rock and roll song on the entire album.

Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and was able to give a final performance in Fairmont in 2004, less than a year before his passing. Today, Fairmont remembers its rock and roll legend with the Johnnie Johnson Jazz Festival, held every year at Palatine Park. Because of his inclusion on the golden record, he is likely the most immortalized West Virginian of all time – his music sent through space to represent Earth.

Accompanying Johnson and Berry on the album is a wide variety of other music and sounds from Earth, including greetings in 55 languages , nature sounds like thunder, waves and whale calls, and traditional folk music from countries across the world. You can find a list of the record’s contents on the NASA website , or you can listen to a playlist of the golden record’s music on YouTube .

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