FBI evacuates space observatory and refuses to say why

A conspiracy theory that proof of alien life is being covered up is swirling after FBI agents swooped on a space observatory, evacuated it – and refused to explain why or what has happened.

The Sunspot Solar Observatory usually spends its time looking at the Sun and trying to understand our celestial neighbour. But it has been banned from doing so for the past week, since federal agents secretly arrived and shut down the entire area.

Its website only says that the shutdown happened "due to unforeseen circumstances" and that the facility would remain closed "until further notice".

Local police said they had received reports that FBI agents arrived in a Blackhawk helicopter and swooped around the observatory. They would not even tell law enforcement why they were there, police said.

The local sheriff's office said it had no explanation of what had happened, but suggested that there was "a lot of stuff going on".

"The FBI is refusing to tell us what's going on," Otero County Sheriff Benny House told ABC 7.

"We've got people up there (at Sunspot) that requested us to standby while they evacuate it, nobody would really elaborate on any of the circumstances as to why.

"The FBI were up there. What their purpose was nobody will say."

He also described the mysterious scene as the FBI swooped on the facility.

"For the FBI to get involved that quick and be so secretive about it, there was a lot of stuff going on up there.

"There was a Blackhawk helicopter, a bunch of people around antennas and work crews on towers but nobody would tell us anything."

The mystery and the observatory's usual work has led to theories across the internet suggesting the shutdown came after scientists spotted something they shouldn't have. One prominent YouTube channel suggested it had accidentally seen an alien craft, for instance.

Some have noted the fact that the observatory is only around 200km from the famous Roswell landing site. In 1947, a UFO dropped fell down to Earth there that officials say was a weather balloon dropped down in that area – but many claim that something more extraterrestrial actually dropped down to Earth there.

Alien signals spotted from galaxy 3bn light years away

Scientists searching for extraterrestrial life say they have spotted 72 mysterious signals from an alien galaxy using artificial intelligence (AI).
The researchers at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute discovered the unusual signals when examining 400 terabytes of radio data from a dwarf galaxy three billion light years away from Earth.
Almost all artificial intelligence technology involves automating data analysis, combing through huge data sets to identify patterns or unusual occurrences.
The signals they spotted - fast radio bursts (FRBs) - are bright and quick pulses which were first discovered in 2007 and are believed to come from distant galaxies, although it is not yet know what causes them.
"The nature of the object emitting them is unknown," SETI said, adding: "There are many theories, including that they could be the signatures of technology developed by extraterrestrial intelligent life."
Last year, scientists at Harvard University suggested that FRBs could result from energy leaks from powerful transmitters built by alien civilisations in order to send giant light sail ships on interstellar voyages.
A light sail would use the tiny amount of pressure exerted by light to produce a small but constant acceleration which allows a spacecraft to reach a great speed.
The FRBs were detected in data collected by the Green Bank Telescope, part of the US Radio Quiet Zone, where wireless communications signals are banned to prevent interference with the telescopes.
Gerry Zhang, a PhD student at Berkeley, developed the machine-learning algorithm used to examine the 400tb of data, in which another researcher had already identified 21 FRBs.
"Gerry's work is exciting not just because it helps us understand the dynamic behavior of FRBs in more detail," said SETI's Dr Andrew Siemion, "but also because of the promise it shows for using machine learning to detect signals missed by classical algorithms."
Dr Siemion added: "These new techniques are already improving our sensitivity to signals from extraterrestrial technologies."
The results of their research have been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.