Read this excerpt from A Black Hole Is NOT a Hole. In the 1930s a telephone-company engineer named Karl Jansky was trying to track down the cause of hissing static in phone lines when he discovered something strange. Radio energy from outer space was interfering with the phone signals. After learning about Janksy's discovery, a radio engineer named Grote Reber decided to investigate. The connection between Karl Jansky and Grote Reber in the excerpt shows that both men were interested in telephone static. Grote Reber was Karl Jansky’s student. Karl Jansky influenced Grote Reber’s work. both men were searching for black holes.