"David Martel" <marte005@earthlink.net> wrote

... this may not be an appropriate forum to discuss aliens and their

possible attributes.

Except that I think a forum called SETI is a perfect place to discuss in
what form communications from such entities might appear - that's what we're
looking for after all. To me, anything we might receive would likely be
incidental and accidental to their daily activities, rather than aimed at
us.

One possibility would be the alien equivalent of CNN or the BBC, or
navigation beacons of some sort, or an analog to our military communications
networks.

Alternatively they might have energy beaming activities, say providing power
to a network of habitations or industrial establishments far from a star, or
to spaceships servicing such places. For example, mining stations on
asteroids or Kuiper-belt type objects.

Once located, such energy might be very difficult to interpret. Indeed, in
the case of an energy beam or navigation beacon, it might contain little
information beyond its simple existence. But it would be new data, and as
such would be priceless. At the very least, it would allow us to guess at
their technical and scientific capabilities. And if none are found, that is
significant information too. Another work unit, please.