Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Credit: Big Ear Radio Telescope

Viewed as one of the oddest radio transmissions from afar ever detected, the famous “Wow! Signal” is cited as compelling evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence.

It was back in 1977 that the Ohio State University Big Ear radio telescope detected the Wow! Signal, a long-standing and intriguing signal of extraterrestrial origin.

But researchers from the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo are proposing a less ETish explanation.

Image credit: UCLA SETI

Archived data

New research, led by Abel Méndez, marks the first phase of the “Arecibo Wow!” project, an ambitious endeavor to search for similar signals using archived data from the former Arecibo Observatory.

The Wow! Signal may have been caused by a unique astrophysical event. They point to the sudden brightening of a cold hydrogen cloud due to stimulated emission from a transient strong radiation source, such as a magnetar flare or a soft gamma repeater (SGR).

These rare events might cause hydrogen clouds to momentarily shine much brighter, potentially explaining the fleeting nature of the Wow! Signal.

Image credit: Arecibo Wow! Project

False positives

According to the “Arecibo Wow!” project page, “this hypothesis not only accounts for the unique characteristics of the Wow! Signal but also highlights a new source of false positives in the search for extraterrestrial technosignatures.”

Méndez adds that the study suggests that the Wow! Signal was likely “the first recorded instance of maser-like emission of the hydrogen line.”

This hypothesis may redefine our understanding of such signals, Méndez and colleagues assert, and guide future searches for extraterrestrial life.

Image credit: SETI Post-detection Hub

How this new reason for the Wow! Signal — likely caused by a rare astrophysical event — receives its own critique in scientific circles remains to be seen.

Go to the research paper — “Arecibo Wow! I: An Astrophysical Explanation for the Wow! Signal” — at:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2408.08513

Meanwhile, for further information, visit the Arecibo Wow! Project page at:

https://phl.upr.edu/wow

Also, go to this informative video on the Wow! Signal at:

https://youtu.be/r6rPNPVQp0Y?si=1Ly_LhITW0x50c3m