'Interstellar' signal scientists thought was aliens was actually nearby traffic

11 March 2024 , 23:19

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Reports of “interstellar” sound waves first emerged after a meteor entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Western Pacific in January 2014 (Image: Getty Images)

An “interstellar” signal experts believed could have been aliens was actually just a nearby lorry, new research has revealed.

“Alien” sound waves recorded north of Papua New Guinea were likely just vibrations from a truck on a local road, scientists have said. This undermines the theory debris found near the location contained “alien materials”, as had been widely reported at the time.

“The signal changed directions over time, exactly matching a road that runs past the seismometer,” Research leader Dr Benjamin Fernando said. “It’s really difficult to take a signal and confirm it is not from something.

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Experts now believe so-called "alien" soundwaves actually came from a lorry

"But what we can do is show that there are lots of signals like this, and show they have all the characteristics we’d expect from a truck and none of the characteristics we'd expect from a meteor.”

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Reports of “interstellar” sound waves first emerged after a meteor entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Western Pacific in January 2014. Almost a decade later, scientists theorized debris pulled from the ocean could have had an “extraterrestrial technological” origin.

However, these theories were based on misinterpreted data, Dr Fernando claims. The planetary seismologist at Johns Hopkins University in the US, said: "The fireball location was actually very far away from where the oceanographic expedition went to retrieve these meteor fragments.

Sound waves believed to be from a 2014 meteor fireball north of Papua New Guinea were almost certainly vibrations from a truck rumbling along a nearby road

“Not only did they use the wrong signal, they were looking in the wrong place.” And sadly, this means the audio signals most likely have a distinctly non-alien origin as well. Dr Fernando added: “Whatever was found on the sea floor is totally unrelated to this meteor, regardless of whether it was a natural space rock or a piece of alien spacecraft - even though we strongly suspect that it wasn’t aliens."

Henry Moore