Prophecy At 1420 MHz
Running time	5:04
Appears on	Inferno
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Comments

• 1420 MHz (21 cm) is the hydrogen line — the emission frequency of neutral atomic hydrogen, and the most-listened-on frequency in the history of SETI. It is widely known as the "waterhole" frequency; in popular SETI writing it has sometimes been called "the voice of God" — the signal any intelligence in the galaxy would be expected to recognise.
• Expanding on the above, the famous Wow! signal - an unexplained radio signal detected in 1977 that is hypothesized to have an extraterrestrial origin - had a frequency of ~1420.455 MHz.
• Pairing "prophecy" with the hydrogen line reads the cosmos as a source of religious revelation: a transmission from elsewhere, listened to with the ear of a prophet rather than an engineer. Continues the band's long interest in number stations, shortwave, and hidden messages (see "Gyroscope").
• Thematically paired with "Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan" (the elements produced by the Big Bang) — together they stage the physical cosmos as a theological space.