Astronomy: Do two mysterious dual signals point to objects in the solar system?

While searching for extraterrestrial intelligence in the light of a star, a retired NASA researcher discovered a mysterious signal that repeated itself after a few seconds and then did not reappear. While the researcher named Richard Stanton discarded possible explanations, he noticed a double signal in old recordings of a completely different star that was strikingly similar to the first. Due to the strength of the two findings, the cause could not be in the systems of the stars, but must be much closer to us. According to the researcher, the signals could be explained by a gigantic ring in the solar system that has passed in front of the stars.

Several possible explanations ruled out

As Stanton explains in a research article in the journal Acta Astronautica, he uses a telescope at the Shay Meadow Observatory in California to search for evidence of intelligent life in more than 1,300 sun-like stars. After years, he has “finally” made unexpected discoveries. The first find came from the star HD89389. On May 14, 2023, Stanton's instrument detected a noticeable brightening in its light, followed by a massive dimming and then another excessive brightening. The whole process was repeated after 4.42 seconds. Because the brightening and dimming took place in fractions of a second, an object in the star system there can be ruled out as the cause, explains the researcher. It would have to be far too big for that. At the same time, he points out that the starlight between the two signals is “practically unchanged” in relation to the measurements before and after.

The course of the signal excludes typical causes such as airplanes, satellites, meteors and other flashes of light, explains Stanton. At no time did the star disappear completely, as is the case when airplanes fly by, for example. The former NASA researcher has also identified significant differences between the light curves of the different color spectra. If all this wasn't puzzling enough, there was another discovery. Stanton subsequently discovered an almost congruent double signal from September 30, 2019, in the light curve of HD217014. Only the fine structure in the individual color spectra is missing. In addition, the interval is significantly shorter at 1.2 seconds. According to Stanton, the pause between the signals in both cases is around 20 times as long as the individual signals themselves.

Stanton does not have an explanation for the discovery, but he does rule out several possible causes. For example, the second finding was originally attributed to birds and discarded. However, they would not cause the starlight to become significantly stronger. Shock waves in the Earth's atmosphere can produce such signals, at least individually. The double duplication would also eliminate them. Stanton considers double asteroids to be a possible cause, but extremely unlikely considering the doubling. He also mentions gravitational waves as a possible cause, but this would have to be verified by others. Finally, he points out that light can be diffracted along straight lines in such a way that the effect could explain the individual signals. For the duplication to occur, however, the object responsible would have to have passed in front of the star twice.

A giant ring in the solar system?

Stanton goes on to explain in detail how well diffraction by a smooth object fits the light curves according to his work. At the same time, he suggests how the data from two telescopes in close proximity could even be used to determine the speed of an object that triggers such double signals. Finally, he writes that one could imagine a huge ring that could produce these patterns as it passes in front of a star: “If something like this were ever found, it would directly raise the question of where it came from and how it could survive millions of years of collisions with other objects,” he says. Should it be faster than the escape velocity of the solar system, even more questions would follow. He is at least hinting that in the search for an explanation for the strange find, we could find traces of extraterrestrial intelligence in the solar system itself.

(mho)