More than a quarter century since it began searching for life beyond the stars, SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) think they might have actually found something. If their hunches are correct, they think that they might have not only found proof of life, but that it comes from a civilization more advanced than we could imagine.
Unfortunately, we can’t just pop over and check it out for ourselves, the signal spike that SETI researchers have detected comes from a star in the Hercules constellation. that’s 95 light years away.
The strange signal anomaly was first discovered last May by a Russian telescope, but Russia held back information about it from the international community. Seti didn’t learn about it until a reporter, broke the story after hearing that the scientists were circulating a research paper quietly among the scientific community.
Here’s what we know about the signal so far:
– It’s coming from a star designated HD164595
– That star is seemingly identical in make up to our own sun
– It is orbited by at least one “Neptune-like” planet, but there is a possibility of more planets.
– The signal strength indicates that, if this is transmission, it is from one with the technology needed to broadcast on an interstellar level.
Alan Boyle, author of The Case for Pluto, says: ” The signal conceivably fits the profile for an intentional transmission from an extraterrestrial source. In any case, the blip is interesting enough to merit discussion by those who specialize in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.”