Potential Alien Sign Coming From an Earth-like Planet
But do not be too thrilled– the researchers say it might easily just be a misidentified transmission from us humans.
A group of Chinese and American researchers put their reputation on the line with a bold claim: that, with many caveats, a recently identified narrowband signal could indicate intelligent extraterrestrial life.
The uncommon signal– captured by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in southwest China, the world’s largest radio telescope– seems to have the team really questioning whether it could be the first-ever indication of life beyond Earth.
A signal from afar
Now the story gets more interesting, according to a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper regarding the discovery, spotted by the South China Morning Post and showing off several authors from the University of California, Berkeley, and Chinese researchers.
According to the article, the sign came from the direction of a potentially Earth-like exoplanet orbiting within the habitable area of Kepler-438, a red dwarf some 473 light-years from Earth.
The exoplanet Kepler-438b was commemorated as the “most Earth-like planet” ever found outside the solar system upon its finding back in 2015, even though its habitability has also been questioned by other scientists.
While it is an eyebrow-raising conclusion, the group concludes that the “most likely” reason for the sign is radio frequency interference (RFI) from another source.
The signal was identified during the telescope’s first targeted alien-hunting mission between November 2020 and September 2021.
According to the paper, the signal is unlikely to have been created by natural means in the cosmos and consequently should be the source of leaking or sent transmission.
However, to be very transparent, although the alien theory is tantalizing, the source of the signal may be an item of human technology.
Written in the skies
The paper also showed that the sign, which was observed for a 20 minute period, drifted in frequency, suggesting that it was coming from an orbiting celestial body.
That could also dismiss the possibility of nearby RFI from other sources near the FAST telescope, which has led to other incorrect findings in the past.
For now, the team is staying careful in its assertions.
“Even though a few of its features are a little consistent with a true SETI signal, there is still a piece of proof leading us to believe that the Kepler-438 event is an instrumental RFI signal,” the preprint reads.
In short, it is far too soon to conclude that we have evidence of sophisticated extraterrestrial people trying to comunicate with us.
“It could take a long time to demonstrate it one way or the other, but, even if the signal turns out to be some noise, it will still supply significant lessons for our SETI research in the future,” Zhang Tongjie from Beijing Normal University, SETI project lead at FAST, told the Chinese government-affiliated publication Science and Technology Daily, as quoted by SCMP.
Read the original article on Futurism.
Related “Astrophysicists Develop “Time Machine” Simulations To Observe the Lifecycle of Ancestor Galaxy Cities“
