SKIES & SAUCERS
Chinese Astronomers Log Steady Tone From Star System 238 Light-Years Distant
A narrowband signal designated NBS 260108, detected by the FAST telescope near a star with three 'super-Earth' planets, has the listening community leaning toward its receivers, though its origin remains unknown.
THE INTERNET — Astronomers in China using the FAST radio telescope have picked up what one report describes as among the most tantalizing signals in some time, a steady tone concentrated around a single frequency, according to a news item published on November 4 by the website Unexplained Mysteries.
The signal has been designated NBS 260108. According to the account, which credits Mail Online as its source, it was found during observations of K2-155, a star system situated 238 light-years from Earth. The system is said to be home to three planets of the kind classed as 'super-Earths'.
The article's author, T.K. Randall, notes that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence has been under way for decades, with astronomers around the world hoping to catch a distant signal that betrays sophisticated alien technology. The search has so far turned up a myriad of signals, he writes, but none has proven conclusively to be of alien origin.
What sets this one apart, according to reports cited in the piece, is that the signal has changed in frequency over time. The article describes this as making it particularly intriguing, though it offers no further technical detail on the nature or extent of the change.
The source is careful on the central question. Whether the signal has an intelligent source, it states plainly, remains unclear. It does not offer a mundane explanation, nor does it say what further observations are planned, and readers should not take the detection as confirmation of anything beyond what the astronomers have recorded.
Should a signal of this kind ever prove to be technological in nature, the author concludes, it would rank among the greatest discoveries in the history of human civilization. For the present, the tone persists in the record, the star system sits 238 light-years off, and the matter stands open.