7 Times We Really Thought We'd Found Aliens

2. The Microwave Bursts

For years, astronomers at the Parkes Observatory in Australia puzzled over short, intense bursts of radio waves being picked up by their instruments. The bursts were similar to those originating from deep space, but they couldn't find any natural phenomena to satisfactorily explain them.

These signals, known as perytons, were becoming increasingly common and reports dated all the way back through the 1990s. Even stranger was that, although they were similar to distant signals from other galaxies, the readings indicated that they were coming from alarmingly close to home - it was essentially the astronomical version of realising the call sare coming from inside the house.

As it turns out, the signals were indeed very close to home. In fact, they were coming from a microwave oven. It turned out that, if somebody opened the microwave door before the timer had run down, a short burst of perytons were emitted and picked up by the telescope. So, the signals were coming from an intelligent race, just the wrong one.