MY father and I were talking about sci-fi stories we've read over the years. He asked if I had ever read
"that one about those astronauts on the moon, or maybe Mars?. I don't remember much, except these astronaut guys discover this piece of alien technology laying there on the ground, conspicuously unmarred and free of the all-pervading Martian (or perhaps lunar) dust, emitting a ringing or buzzing sound that could be heard through their suits and the vaccum of space or whatever."
I suppose there was some back and forth dialogue between these cosmic pioneers and maybe even a dash of Mission Control piping in with their two cents from back on Terra Firma for flavor. However the details played out, human nature being what it is, these astronauts eventually reached down, said 'screw it,' and found the balls to pick it up.
The sound (signal?) stopped immediately. The artifact--I think he said it was box shaped and metallic--was some type of "Those crazy-ass hairless apes finally managed to crawl off their rock" detection system. So long as the insane little chimps were swinging from limb to limb, clubbing each other over the heads down on Mother Earth, the signal kept pulsing steadily out into space towards whatever planet these mysterious extraterrestrials called home sweet home.