China claimed that its massive Sky Eye telescope may have detected signals of extraterrestrial civilizations, according to a report by the state-backed Science and Technology Daily, which promptly removed the piece and related postings.
The report cites Zhang Tonjie, chief scientist of an
extraterrestrial civilization search team co-founded by Beijing Normal
University, the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, and the University of California, Berkeley, as saying that the narrow-band
electromagnetic signals detected by Sky Eye — the world's largest radio
telescope — differ from those captured in the past and that the team is
investigating them further.
It is unclear why the report was apparently removed from the
website of the Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China's
science and technology ministry, despite the fact that the news was already
trending on social network Weibo and had been picked up by other media outlets,
including state-run outlets.
Sky Eye, which is situated in the Guizhou region of
southwestern China and has a diameter of 500 meters (1,640 feet), commenced an
official search for alien life in September 2020. Zhang, according to the
newspaper, said that the team noticed two sets of suspicious signals in 2020
while processing data acquired in 2019, and another suspicious signal in 2022
from observation data of planetary targets.
According to Zhang, China's Sky Eye is particularly
sensitive to the low-frequency radio band and plays a crucial role in the hunt
for extraterrestrial civilizations.
He stated that the odd signals might possibly be radio
interference and need more examination.
This is a developing story and we will keep you updated as
soon as new information regarding this story emerges.
0 Comments