Scientists Question NASA Claim of Possible Parallel Universe

Recent reports that a NASA project may have discovered evidence of a possible parallel universe have omitted a number of other possibilities, scientists tell CNET.

"The unusual ANITA events have been known and discussed since 2016," said Ron Ekers, an honorary fellow at Australia's national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. "After four years there has been no satisfactory explanation of the anomalous events seen by ANITA [NASA's Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna] so this is very frustrating, especially to those involved."

University of Queensland astroparticle phenomenologist Pat Scott told CNET that although the theory put forth ANITA, is "plausible," there are several other possible answers to explain the odd phenomena they detected.

"There's nothing that necessarily makes it a detection of a parallel universe," Scott said.

CNET notes that the initial report claiming that scientists found evidence of a parallel universe appears on New Scientist in an article behind a paywall that may have caused subsequent reports to be based entirely on the opening paragraphs, which are visible for free. At one point later in the article, one of the scientists behind the discovery says, "there are one or two loose ends" involving the parallel universe theory.

"There are a number of potential candidate particles that could account for the results from ANITA," said University of Sydney astrophysicist Geraint Lewis.

"Whilst parallel universes sound exciting and sexy when discussing the ANITA signal, alternative ideas are still on the table," Lewis added.

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