Report Claiming Possible Detection of Alien Civilization Removed from Chinese State-Run News Site

China’s “Sky Eye” radio telescope is one of the most powerful in the world. *(Science and Technology Daily)*

A report this week claiming that evidence of an alien civilization had potentially been discovered was removed soon after publication to Chinese state-run news site Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China’s science and technology ministry.

However, prior to its removal, the news had already begun to circulate widely on social media.

The report featured testimony from Professor Zhang Tonjie, chief scientist of the China Extraterrestrial Civilization Research Group of the Department of Astronomy at Beijing Normal University, who said that a few days prior his team had used China's "Sky Eye" radio telescope to discover several cases of possible technological traces and extraterrestrial civilizations from outside the Earth. Zhang said that several narrow-band electromagnetic signals from the past had been detected, and his team is currently working on further investigation.

"The search for 'China Sky Eye' is a long one, and we have been working hard," he told Science and Technology Daily.

Beijing Normal University, along with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of California - Berkeley, have been cooperating to form a research team to search for extraterrestrial civilizations.

According to Zhang, the extremely high sensitivity of "Sky Eye" to the low-frequency radio band plays an important role in this effort. Electromagnetic waves—such as low-frequency radio waves—are said to be suitable for carrying interstellar communications because they can penetrate our planet’s atmosphere despite adverse weather conditions.

Zhang also said in the report that, in 2020, his team discovered two groups of suspicious signals during data processing of the "Sky Eye" 2019 synchronic sky survey observations. Then, this year, the team found another suspicious signal from the exoplanet target observation data.

"The possibility that the suspicious signal is some kind of radio interference is also very high, and it needs to be further confirmed and ruled out. This may be a long process." Zhang said. "'China Sky Eye' will repeat the observation of suspicious signals that have been discovered to further identify and detect new signals."

Due to decades of discoveries involving organic molecules and amino acids that constitute life outside of the Earth, Zhang is optimistic about the final discovery and confirmation of extraterrestrial intelligent life.

"We look forward to 'China Sky Eye' being the first to discover and confirm the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations," he said.

It is unclear why the report was taken down, although some have speculated that it might have been posted prematurely and was removed to avoid embarrassment.

This hypothesis is supported by a report published today by CNET, in which Zhang claimed the suspicious signals were simply radio interference.

“These signals are from radio interference,” he told CNET via email. “All of the signals detected by [the search for extraterrestrial intelligence or SETI] researchers so far are made by our own civilization, not another civilization.”

Regardless, obfuscation of the event by Chinese media has excited the imaginations of conspiracy theorists, and there are still those who believe that China may know more than they are letting on.

What, if anything, that knowledge might entail remains to be seen.

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