Looking for Drugs or ET?

Cross posted at As Ohio Goes

As I read this Cleveland Plain Dealer article yesterday I wondered about this "Project Phoenix" and how well known was it. So I started to search...

What I found was interesting yet, somehow I don't think this is it...

Project Phoenix was the world's most sensitive and comprehensive search for extraterrestrial intelligence. It was an effort to detect extraterrestrial civilizations by listening for radio signals that were either being deliberately beamed our way, or were inadvertently transmitted from another planet. Phoenix was the successor to the ambitious NASA SETI program that was cancelled by a budget-conscious Congress in 1993. Phoenix began observations in February, 1995 using the Parkes 210 foot radio telescope in New South Wales, Australia. This was the largest radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere.

I found lots of information about items listed as "Project Phoenix", including a movie then scores of items listed as "Phoenix Project". Only problem is none of those seem to relate to Ohio or an expanded high-profile anti-drug program.

I did find one link via my search engine from the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Not very helpful though:

Oops! We have recently modified this site, and most of the pages and links have changed. It seems as though the page you were looking for was one of them.

Searched the AG site using the term "Phoenix" and discovered nothing that even remotely seemed to be related to this program.

So, if it was enhanced and it was re-named? It seems pretty clear to understand why Marc Dann might not know about it. I'm really thinking aliens must be involved...

(This article is also for the Weekly Carnival of Ohio Politics, brought to you by the wonderful Paul Miller of Northwest Ohio Net make sure to stop by his site tomorrow to see what some of Ohio's best bloggers are writing about.)