Australia's OSETI detects unknown signal

"It may be a glitch in our equipment, or some astrophysical phenomena (e.g an optical pulsar) or some unknown source. We are still investigating it" As much as I'd like to see these programs succeed the problem will always lie in source identification. If these blips can't be identified then what's the sense? It excites me but at the same time it feels kind of helpless.

If it takes them that long to tell us about one blip, you could build a hamlet if several of them come in. That's if isn't hussed up first.

I live in Australia. Judging by the way we sometimes behave, it was probably an equipment malfunction through dodgy maufacturing....

"It may be a glitch in our equipment" I agree that it is most likely an aberration of the instrument.

It may be a glitch in our equipment, or some astrophysical phenomena (e.g an optical pulsar) or some unknown source. We are still investigating it Well I'm glad they're still investigating, but it seems kind-of pointless to have SETI and OSETI if, as soon as they get something interesting, they blame it on malfunctioning equipment. I think people are just afraid to say that it might be extraterrestrial because if it turns out to be a mistake they look dumb. So they overcompensate by assuming that every unexplained signal they get is just a mistake. But I'm not scarred to say that I hope that i... [More]

I've never heard of OSETI! Is that the SEarch for InTelligent life in Oz?