Some experts even warned that the signal could be just interference, and probably military in origin.
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Questions arose after scientists at the SETI Institute, a private organization that looks for signals coming from extraterrestrial life, announced they were looking into an “interesting” radio signal reported by Russian astronomers.
The Sun reports that the signal was recorded using the RATAN-600 radio dish at Zelenchukskaya, near the border with Georgia, and was described as “a strong signal in the direction of HD164595” by the observatory.
But on Wednesday, Russian astronomer Yulia Sotnikova shut down speculative reports that extraterrestrials could be responsible for the signal.
Nevertheless, SETI astronomers have spent the last two nights using an array of radio telescopes in California to study the suspect star, HD 164595, which has one known planet in orbit.
Their findings emerged after Italian researcher Claudio Maccone, who chairs the International Academy of Astronautics committee on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI, told colleagues of a presentation he heard about the signal, said Seth Shostak, a director at the SETI Institute.
Scientists stress that there is insufficient evidence to claim that the signal is an alien communication, and say that it is likely to have been produced by electrical interference or a natural event on a more remote object in the Universe.
Among those who took note of the signal hubbub was American astronomer Paul Gilster, who said that while it was too early to deem this a case of alien technology, the signal’s strength suggested that if it came from outer space, it could be generated only by civilizations that are either Type I or Type II on the Kardashev scale of civilizations’ sophistication. “If we had found a signal, we’d check it out and call up other astronomers to check it out as well”, Shostak said.
An outburst of worldwide interest in the signal followed, with some casting the signal as a herald of our new alien overlords.
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The signal had been detected only once out of 39 observations of the section of sky around HD164595.
