BERKELEY, Calif. -- On Monday, KTVU reported scientists have received an odd signal from space and some readers may have interpreted this as a confirmed extra-terrestrial contact.
Scientists did confirm there was an anomalous radio signal and reported it late last year.
However, as SETI@home lead scientist Dan Werthimer now clarifies, "although this pulse is not well understood..." it may have a natural origin.
SETI Institute Chief Scientist Seth Shostak says the highly energetic and brief signal at first excited some researchers, who at the time thought it may be a candidate ET signal. It was received not at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, as reported, but rather in Australia.
The signal has not been confirmed as any sign of extra-terrestrial intelligence, although the Allen array in California is now actively searching for more of these signals.
