Energy flashes ‘could be aliens in light ships’

MYSTERIOUS flashes of energy detected in distant galaxies may be evidence of super-advanced aliens powering interstellar spacecraft, theorists claim.

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are intense radio pulses that last no more than a millisecond.

Since their discovery in 2007, fewer than two dozen have been detected by the world’s largest radio telescopes – and their origin remains unknown.

Astronomers know almost nothing about them other than that they appear to occur in very remote galaxies billions of light years away.

Now a team of highly respected US scientists from Harvard University has put forward the serious suggestion that FRBs could be evidence of aliens at work.

They believe the bursts may be leaked energy from unimaginably powerful transmitters capable of sending giant light sail ships on voyages between stars.

Professor Avi Loeb, from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, said: “Fast radio bursts are exceedingly bright given their short duration and origin at great distances, and we haven’t identified a possible natural source with any confidence. An artificial origin is worth contemplating and checking.”

In a study, Mr Loeb and Harvard colleague Dr Manasvi Lingham looked at the feasibility of building a radio transmitter powerful enough to be detectable across such immense distances.

They concluded a solar-powered system would generate the required amount of energy if it used an area twice the size of Earth to capture the sun’s rays.