Chinese telescope detects extraterrestrial life: report

Beijing: Chinese journal Science and Technology Daily, had reported that the countries Sky Eye telescope have picked up signs from space suggesting life outside Earth. However, the journal later deleted the report and related posts, Bloomberg reported.

According to the Chinese state-backed journal's report, the narrow-band electromagnetic signals detected by the giant-sized world's largest telescope- Sky Eye- are different from earlier captured ones, and further probe is on into the matter. The report quoted Zhang Tonjie, chief scientist of an extraterrestrial civilisation search team co-founded by Beijing Normal University, the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of California, Berkeley.

Zhang added that the suspicious signals could also be some kind of radio interference, which requires deep investigation. But what is not clear yet is why the report got taken down from the site. However, the news went out through the Chinese social media platform Weibo and was picked up by world media.

Zhang had said in the report that Sky Eye had launched a search for extraterrestrial life in September 2020. His team had detected two sets of signals, one in 2020 and the next one-two years later, through its observation of exoplanet targets. The radiotelescope is extremely sensitive in low-frequency radio bands and has a pivotal role in the search for alien civilisations, Zhang said.

Sky Eye is located in China's southwestern Guizhou province and has a diameter of 500 meters.