Aliens may be behind the peculiar behavior of mega-star KIC 8462852, according to select analysis of a new scientific study published Friday.
The study could not find a single naturalistic explanation for the star’s exceedingly unusual dimming which explains the extremely unusual behavior of the star. The astronomers examined 500 other stars in the vicinity of KIC 8462852, and saw nothing else like it.
“We spent a long time trying to convince ourselves this wasn’t real. We just weren’t able to,” Ben Montet, a Caltech astronomer who co-authored the study, told Gizmodo. “None of the considered phenomena can alone explain the observations.”
The best naturalistic explanation favored by some, involves a huge mass of comets erratically orbiting the star and creating enough dust to dim the light, but January analysis of the star’s history renderes that hypothesis implausible, since the unprecedented dimming has continued for over a century. In order to dim for such a long time period, the star would need to have millions of times more dust and comets orbiting than is currently the case.
Astronomers estimate that the dimming would require roughly 648,000 giant comets of 200 kilometers in diameter all aligned to pass in front of the star. The chances of such a formation render it essentially impossible, and there is currently no remotely plausible single scientific explanation for what is going on with KIC 8462852.
The dense formations near KIC 8462852 are similar to “Dyson spheres,” hypothetical, energy-harvesting “megastuctures” theoretical aliens could theoretically build by rearranging the solar system. Scientists have pondered the existence of Dyson Spheres since the 1960s, thinking they could be a potential solution to energy problems faced by an extremely old civilization. Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) scientists have long argued humans could detect distant alien civilizations by looking for technological artifacts orbiting other stars.
Moreover, the kind of large masses which could cause KIC 8462852’s dimming aren’t consistent with its age.
The scientist who originally discovered the unusual dimming launched a successful crowdfunding campaign to secure time at the the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network to further study the star.
In 1967, a graduate student in astronomy, found an usual pulsing radio signal so predictable it seemed to be a sign of intelligent life. The astronomers even nicknamed the signal LGM-1, for, “little green men.” It was believed by some that they had detected a signal from an extraterrestrial civilization, but it turned out to be the first pulsar.
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