what the sferics said to Mondaugen

[Paul Mackin]

Had always thought (probably read it somewhere) that
the decoded message is not a message from beyond, but a
METAMESSAGE to the effect that THERE IS NO MESSAGE, atleast not
one to be counted on. Pynch simply latched onto a well-known
phrase (a found object) that would serve his literary
purpose.

But always willing to learn better. Interesting discussion.

More generally, seems to me early LW is not exactly our man's 
cup of tea (though possibly engineer Mondaugen's since Ludi was a
down-to-earth sort with that background, but I repeat myself).

				P.