BBC against discovering aliens on-air?

Media networks relish the moments when they serve as the source for breaking news. And what network wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to broadcast the first detection of intelligent extraterrestrial life? The BBC, apparently.

On Wednesday, November 7, British physicist and professor Brian Cox appeared on the BBC 6 Music breakfast show. Professor Cox explained to the show’s host, Shaun Keaveny, that he and his colleagues on the BBC’s astronomy program Stargazing Live wanted to point the Jodrell Bank telescope at Threapleton Holmes B to listen for signs of life. The team discovered this planet in 2011, and it has reportedly never had a radio telescope pointed in its direction. But before the team got a chance to listen for alien life on this newly discovered planet, Cox claims the BBC nixed the idea.