--- title: Not-So-Close Encounters description: A mysterious blip of energy seemingly from deep space was detected by a Russian radio telescope, leading some to suspect alien contact. But abnormal signals have been misinterpreted before. canonical: https://time.com/4475600/not-so-close-encounters/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-12T11:40:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:06:38.716Z article:section: Science og:title: Not-So-Close Encounters og:description: A mysterious blip of energy seemingly from deep space was detected by a Russian radio telescope, leading some to suspect alien contact. But abnormal signals have been misinterpreted before. og:url: https://time.com/4475600/not-so-close-encounters/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta59c58aba77c73c1/6988a475a988ca53726b942f/brnews-radio-telescopes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: brnews-radio-telescopes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Not-So-Close Encounters twitter:description: A mysterious blip of energy seemingly from deep space was detected by a Russian radio telescope, leading some to suspect alien contact. But abnormal signals have been misinterpreted before. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta59c58aba77c73c1/6988a475a988ca53726b942f/brnews-radio-telescopes.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Not-So-Close Encounters by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Sep 12, 2016 11:40 AM UTC  Radio telescopes like the Very Large Array in New Mexico scan the skies Radio telescopes like the Very Large Array in New Mexico scan the skiesJoe McNally—Getty Images by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Sep 12, 2016 11:40 AM UTC WOW? NOT NOW The famous “Wow!” signal detected in 1977 is often cited as evidence for alien life. But in January, a Florida academic determined that the 72-second emission likely came from two comets. SPACE HEATER In 2015, Australian astronomers figured out that the baffling radio signals they had detected during daytime for the past 17 years were caused not by E.T. but by a microwave in their observatory. SIGNAL FAILURE Scientists in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, were disappointed in 1997 when a signal seemingly from a constellation 22 light-years away turned out to be from a satellite a million miles from Earth. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4475600/not-so-close-encounters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4475600/not-so-close-encounters/"},"headline":"Not-So-Close Encounters","datePublished":"2016-09-12T11:40:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:06:38.716Z","description":"A mysterious blip of energy seemingly from deep space was detected by a Russian radio telescope, leading some to suspect alien contact. But abnormal signals have been misinterpreted before.","url":"https://time.com/4475600/not-so-close-encounters/","keywords":["Space","aliens"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta59c58aba77c73c1/6988a475a988ca53726b942f/brnews-radio-telescopes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta59c58aba77c73c1/6988a475a988ca53726b942f/brnews-radio-telescopes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"brnews-radio-telescopes","caption":"brnews-radio-telescopes","creditText":"Joe McNally—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4475600/not-so-close-encounters/","name":"Not-So-Close Encounters"}}]}] ```