'Alien' signal turns out to be microwave oven

'Alien' signal turns out to be microwave oven
Posted on Tuesday, 14 April, 2015

Microwaves appear to be able to emulate signals from space. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Apoltix
Astronomers in Australia discovered an unexpected source for a series of mysterious radio signals.
The team at the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales had been investigating unexplained radio signals known as a perytons which bear a close resemblance to the mysterious "fast radio bursts" recently put forward as possible evidence of a type of intelligent extraterrestrial communication.

Far from being a message from aliens however the perytons turned out to have a far more mundane, though amusing, explanation.

"We have identified strong out-of-band emission at 2.3-2.5 GHz associated with several peryton events," wrote astronomer Emily Petroff in a paper detailing the findings.

"Subsequent tests revealed that a peryton can be generated at 1.4 GHz when a microwave oven door is opened prematurely and the telescope is at an appropriate relative angle."

In other words - the mysterious peryton signals were being produced whenever someone was opening their microwave door before the timer had finished counting down.

http://www.cnet.com/news/parkes-observatory-extraterrestrial-messages-or-microwave-noodles/