UFO discussion

Date of Original News article: 3rd November 1998
Type of UFO News: UFO discussion
UFO fakes disappoints scientists

The odd case of alien signals from a close star appears to be just a hoax, and not a breakthrough. Just only a week previously, a British engineer who is working for a telecom company said he detected odd signals from the EQ Pegasi, a star system in close proximity with ours.

The discovery spread through the Internet, which began an outbreak of arguments. Some astronomers started to analyse the EQ Peg while other individuals remained suspicious.

Dr. Paul Shuch, the executive director of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (Seti) League which is an international group of amateur ET hunters, said that they have been chasing a ghost for the past decade.

The Seti League includes a network of 900 members from about 48 nations. Many of these were operating tiny radio telescopes as a fraction of their hunt for alien signals from outside the planet.

Dr. Shuch commented that none of their networks up until the moment was successful in finding the claimed signal from the EQ Peg. He commented that real science was jeopardised and that it sabotaged an increasingly respected grassroots attempts of the Seti. Other chief radio telescopes have also been searching for the claimed signal but failed. The compact array telescope located in Australia, which is 30 times more potent than the one which is said to uncover the signals, has not detected anything.

Ian Morison of Jodrell Bank, thought that one has been detected was a mere satellite. Others meanwhile condemned the purported discovery as a purposeful effort to deceive.

Dr. Nathan Cohen from the Boston University, meanwhile said, that the discovery was a fake and not a very good one at that. Cohen refused to explain more due to the fact that such data could be utilised by future hoaxers.

Dr. Seth Shostak from the Seti Institute based in California was also suspicious due to the fact that the purported discovery did not originate from usual channels and the condition of the signal was odd. Also, news that a signal had been discovered by a huge German radio telescope located in Effelsberg have also been condemned. Dr. Rolf Schwartz said that they are not involved in any kind of Seti activity.

But the search continues. For the past forty years, astronomers have been utilising radio telescope in order to sweep the sky and search for signals from outside life forms. The equipment utilised in these are improving.

Prof. Frank Drake, who has done the initial search, has commented that he is positive that detection is likely for the following months.

One thing is apparent. Scientists from Seti will have deduced a lot in the previous week about how to communicate any discovery of extra-terrestrials, and also, on how to transmit their messages to the public when they know a hoax was at hand.

It would seem that the uncovering of alien signals from outer space will prove to be the biggest discovery of all time. The lesson gained from the EQ Peg affair means that a publicity of some sort can be a very messy thing to deal with.