Before his official reply was acknowledged on February 17th, the governor had responded indirectly, in a speech last weekend.

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But many astronomers are confident they'll detect an extraterrestrial intelligence in the next few decades, and when that happens, we better have an official reply ready, or risk being drowned out by the public.

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The plans were originally announced in a written statement by the new Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey, but he was on an official visit in Cumbria and could not reply to Ms Flint's urgent question.

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The outcome was unclear, a council official saying he sent a letter to the government but got no reply, while other residents doubted a letter was ever sent.

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Another (later) post from a forum admin simply states that Skype is looking into the issue and will release an official statement, though we have no idea when that might actually happen and we're awaiting reply to our own request for comment.

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Jalhk, the Ecuadorian official, said his government asked Colombia for more information through the Organization of American States but has not received a reply.

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