Not a Drill: SETI Is Investigating a Possible Extraterrestrial Signal From Deep Space

(MSN.com) An international team of scientists from the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) are investigating mysterious signal spikes emitting from a 65 billion year-old star in the constellation Hercules–95 light years away from Earth. The implications are extraordinary and point to the possibility of a civilization far more advanced than our own.

The unusual signal was originally detected on May 15, 2015 by the Russian Academy of Science-operated RATAN-600 radio telescope in Zelenchukskaya, Russia but was kept secret from the international community. Interstellar space reporter  Paul Gilster broke the story after the researchers quietly circulated a paper announcing the detection of “a strong signal in the direction of HD164595.”

The mysterious star’s designation is HD164595 and it’s considered to be sun-like in nature with a nearly identical metallic composition to our own star. So far, a single Neptune-like (but warmer) planet has been discovered in its orbit–HD 164595 b. But as Gilster explained, “there could, of course, be other planets still undetected in this system.”