So, interestingly this “unusual signal” was detected first in Russia in May '15, but was kept under wraps and they’re just now breaking the news. Also note that the first article apparently contains a typo since it says it’s around a “65 billion year-old star” (universe believed to be 13-14 B years old, probably meant 6.5 billion).
I’m not too hopeful of anything further coming from this (not because I have any expertise in the area but just due to general cynicism), but I think it’s cool enough that there’s even a chance it could be an actual extraterrestrial signal.
Although scientists are giving low odds that the signal is of intelligent alien origin, it fires the imagination just thinking that there’s a possibility. For that reason, I kind of hope it takes a long time before the signal’s origin is positively identified (unless it is from an advanced civilization—then I want to know asap).
What do you expect to be the most likely breaking headline in the event it is identified alien intelligent? Probably the boring, “We’re Not Alone.” But, the headline I’d *like *to see is, “Abyss Gazes Back.”
As cool as it would be to detect ET, this is pretty low on the probability scale. One detection (for two seconds) out of 39 observations, plus it’s in a signal range known to be used by the military? I mean, it’s better than the time people thought the signal from the microwave in the break room was ET, but it’s still a non-story for a slow news day.
That’s just like those damned aliens! They’re sending bogus signals from HD 164595 so that we point all our our radio telescopes in that direction. Meanwhile, they actually live on the opposite side of the galaxy, and are planning to swarm our planet with attack spaceships through the back door while our attention is diverted. There’s no way we can compete with that level of super-intelligence! Might as well cash in your stocks and bonds and spend it on hookers and blow before they get here.
