SHGb02+14a
A search for alien signals run on volunteers' home computers found a candidate that showed up three times in the same patch of sky.
What was reported
SETI@home let millions of volunteers' computers analyse data from the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. One candidate, later named SHGb02+14a, was a signal near 1420 MHz, the natural frequency of hydrogen, which some think aliens might choose. It turned up at least three times from a point between the constellations Pisces and Aries.
In 2004 a magazine article described it as the best candidate yet, which drew wide press attention.
Explanations offered
The SETI@home team said it was probably random noise or chance, not a real signal. Its frequency drifted rapidly, which would be odd for a deliberate transmitter, and no nearby star lies in that direction. It hasn't been detected again.
- When
- 2003
- Where
- Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico
- Witnesses
- SETI@home researchers
- Status
- Probably noise
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.