Scientist ‘worked out’ extraterrestrial ‘wow!’ signal sent to Earth in 1977
The Wow! signal has perplexed astronomers since the late 1970s
With the current US congressional hearing in a which a whistleblower testified under oath that the government was covering up evidence of extraterrestrial life, it's clear aliens are having a bit of a moment.
For example, looking at the number of UFO sightings and alien encounters, the overwhelming majority of them occur in the US compared to everywhere else in the world. It's funny how the aliens just seem to prefer the USA to any other country. How patriotic!
Another such mystery is the enigmatic 'Wow!' signal. For those not in the know, the signal was first picked up in 1977. It has been named the 'Wow!' signal because of a note that one astronomer wrote next to it on the chart, which read simply 'Wow!'.
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This was because it wasn't actually clear what exactly was producing the signal.
After it was first picked up at the Big Ear Radio Observatory in Ohio astronomer Jerry Ehman wrote the note 'Wow!' next to it in the log book.
In the more than 40 years since the signal was first picked up, many people have speculated that it was created by aliens. Perhaps they were trying to send us some sort of signal or message through the vastness of space to make contact.
Meanwhile, other people suggested that the signal was in fact produced by a star. This would mean that a particular wave pattern was coming, though perhaps we were not aware of the kind of star or stage of a star that would produce such a signal.
However, since then, a whole new theory about the Wow! signal has come to light, which might shed some light on why it was such an unusual kind of signal.
The new theory has come from a chap called Antonio Paris. Paris is an adjunct professor of astronomy at St. Petersburg College, Florida, as well as a former analyst of the U.S. Department of Defense. So, you know, qualified.
Paris and his team carried out research in which they scanned the skies around where the signal originated some 40 years ago.
They made observations when Comet 266P/Christensen was passing through this particular region.
They found that the readings matched those made all those years ago for the Wow! signal. Not only that, but there were indications that they were smaller than the signals detected 40 years ago.
This would be in line with how comets lose mass over time.
So, Paris has suggested that the Wow! signal was produced not by aliens or a star, but instead by Comet 266P/Christensen and another comet: 335P/Gibbs.
Paris told ABC News in 2016 that the signal was caused by 'two comets in the very same area at the same time and the same date'.
He added: "Astronomically speaking, when you look at the universe, for these things to all be in the same place, it's one a billion."
There is still no explanation for why aliens always land in the USA, though.
Kit Roberts