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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsA 2025 report describes brief, paired flashes recorded during an optical search for signs of extraterrestrial technology—but they are unexplained candidate events, not evidence of alien communication. The highlighted observation came from the direction of the star HD 89389 on May 14, 2023: two nearly identical pulses 4.4 seconds apart. Related events were also reported around 51 Pegasi and HD 12051.
What did astronomers observe?
Richard H. Stanton reported a short-lived change in the light measured from the direction of HD 89389, an F-type star about 100 light-years away in Ursa Major. On May 14, 2023, the signal brightened, dimmed, and returned to its ambient level over roughly 0.2 seconds. The pattern appeared twice, with 4.4 seconds between pulses. These details are reported in Matthew Williams’s May 16, 2025 account for Universe Today, carried by Phys.org.
The observation was a change in measured optical light, not a radio transmission or a message decoded from the star. The report describes the pulses as coming from the star’s direction; it does not establish that the star itself produced them.
How did the optical SETI search work?
Stanton surveyed more than 1,300 Sun-like stars using a 76.2-centimeter (30-inch) telescope at Shay Meadow Observatory in Big Bear, California, and a multi-channel photometer he designed. As described in the 2025 report, he typically observed a star for about an hour, sampling its light every 100 microseconds and examining the resulting time series for pulses and optical tones.
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Optical SETI looks for brief flashes or other signals in visible light. It is distinct from radio SETI, which searches for signals with radio antennas. Detecting variations on a timescale of fractions of a second requires measurement equipment and analysis; ordinary visual observing is not the technique described here.
What other candidate events were reported?
The account discusses events associated with three stars. The records are not all the same kind of evidence: the report describes the HD 12051 event as a 2025 observation not included in the paper.
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| Star | Reported event | Distance stated in the report |
|---|---|---|
| HD 89389 | Two nearly identical pulses on May 14, 2023, separated by 4.4 seconds | About 100 light-years |
| HD 217014 (51 Pegasi) | A similar event found in historical data from September 30, 2019 | About 50.6 light-years |
| HD 12051 | A further event observed in 2025; not included in the paper | About 81 light-years |
These are reported candidate observations, not three confirmed stellar emissions. In particular, the 2025 HD 12051 event should not be presented as a result included in the paper.
What could have caused the pulses?
The report says Stanton compared the events with possible terrestrial, atmospheric, astronomical, and instrument-related explanations. Those comparisons included aircraft, satellites, meteors, lightning, atmospheric scintillation, and instrument noise. It also discusses diffraction by a foreground object and atmospheric refraction as possibilities.
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Considering these alternatives does not show that every ordinary cause has been eliminated. The cause of the signal—and the mechanism that might have modulated the measured light—remains unknown. An unexplained optical transient is not, by itself, evidence that extraterrestrials made it.
How could follow-up observations distinguish explanations?
One proposed test is to observe the same target at the same time with optical telescopes separated by substantial distances. If a moving object between Earth and the star caused the apparent variation, the event might differ between sites in timing or visibility. A signal intrinsic to the star would be expected to appear consistently at both, subject to the limits of the measurements. This is a way to test hypotheses, not a result already established by the reported observations.
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Researchers would also need repeated, well-characterized observations to see whether the pulse structure recurs and whether it can be separated from atmospheric and instrumental effects. Stanton’s search reportedly exceeded 1,500 hours without finding a similar single pulse, according to the 2025 account; that absence does not identify the cause of the paired events.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does the report establish—and what does it not?
The May 16, 2025 Universe Today account carried by Phys.org is the accessible source for the paper details and event descriptions summarized here. The journal’s ScienceDirect page was not accessible to that account’s reporting, so the methods and findings above are attributed to the published report rather than presented as an independent examination of the full paper.
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Stanton’s own caution captures the limit: “Until we learn more, we can’t even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved!” The observation is intriguing because its cause is unresolved, not because it confirms an alien signal.
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