Five mysterious radio signals detected from outside the Milky Way baffled a team of scientists led by Emily Petroff from Swinburne University in Melbourne. The unidentified signals defined as "fast radio bursts" included one "double signal" that even seasoned astronomers have never heard before.
The team of scientists is now excited over the possibility that the strange pings were actually messages coming from alien origins, The Express reported. According to the astronomers, there are only 11 of such radio signals that have been recorded from across the world. The burst of radio waves were particularly mystifying as it included new double blast which was accompanied by four "singles."
"Every unusual signal from outer space encourages us to wonder if it is from an alien civilization," Nigel Watson told The Express. He is the author of the UFO Investigations Manual. "It would be fantastic if this is an alien signal as the knowledge that we are not alone in this vast universe would have a dramatic impact on our perception of our place in the scheme of things," Watson said further. "It would certainly give the opportunity for UFO spotters to say we told you aliens exist and take an interest in our activities, and you didn't believe us," the author marveled.
Petroff and her team of scientists had actually detected the first pings in January 2015, according to the announcement in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. At the time, Petroff said six more bursts, lasting only milliseconds, were detected from outside the Galaxy by astronomers with Parkes and by the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico. "These bursts were generally discovered weeks or months or even more than a decade after they happened! We're the first to catch one in real time," Petroff said at the time.
Upon the discovery in January, Petroff assigned an international team to continue observations of the mysterious cosmic radio burst. Twelve telescopes from around the world were also swung into action. The locations were in Australia, California, the Canary Islands, Chile, Germany, Hawaii and India.
According to Mansi Kasliwal of the Carnegie Institution in Pasadena, California, the cosmic radio burst has no optical, infrared, ultraviolet or X-ray counterpart that has showed up. That rule out some possibilities that the bursts came from neither long gamma-ray bursts nor supernova.
The team vowed to continue detecting the origin of the mysterious signals. "We've set the trap. Now we just have to wait for another burst to fall into it," Petroff promised.