Wasn't this always likely assumed to be some catastrophic space event that just lined up right for us?
On the life speculation part that people enjoy: If you were going to try communicate with the galaxy it seems strange not use an already powerful source in your neighbourhood like a star, then encode your message in blocking that out, perhaps with huge expanding/contracting panels on a satellite.
And yet multibillion dollar companies whose entire business is illegally running hotels or taxis get nowhere near the vitriol?
Airbnb clearly causes harm for locals in popular tourist cities.