Where is the rumor comming from?
Can't tell you who, but they work for the institute, they are currently verifying it according to him through NASA as to rule out any sort of Earth transmission somehow being reflected back at us.
A month or two ago, Dr Stephen Greer asserted he had at least two independent credible high ranking sources in SETI asserting such and that a 3rd was negotiating communicating with him along similar lines . . . IIRC.