1977 'Wow!' Signal Was Not a Comet, Could Have Been Aliens

A mysterious radio signal detected in deep space 40 years ago was not from a comet and might have been from alien life, according to a new theory.

Dubbed the "Wow! signal because of a note scribbled on a printout of the signal by the man who detected it, the cosmic sound lasted 72 seconds and has puzzled astronomers for years. A new paper claims it was from a comet, but that insistence is being debunked by another expert.

Senior astronomer Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute told Live Science the frequency of the transmission detected by astronomer Dr. Jerry Ehman is telling.

"I don't think anyone ever found such emission from comets," Shostak told Live Science.

What the signal might have been, according to experts, was some sort of transmission from an extraterrestrial life form.

Ehman also disputes the claim that a comet was the source of the transmission, telling Live Science, "We should have seen the source come through twice in about 3 minutes: one response lasting 72 seconds and a second response for 72 seconds following within about a minute and a half. We didn't see the second one."

Astronomers have not seen the same radio transmission since it was detected in 1977.

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