Researchers from a project co-founded by Stephen Hawking have detected mysterious radio signals coming from another galaxy around three billion light years away.
Science boffins committed to finding alien civilisations have picked up 15 repeated fast radio bursts (FRBs) from a galaxy three billion light years away from Earth.
It is unclear if the signals came from black holes or alien life.
But the recent signals had scientists cheering as they were observed at a higher frequency than other ones.
A spokesman for Breakthrough Listen said: “These are the highest frequency and widest bandwidth detections of bursts from FRB 121102 to-date.
“These observations may indicate FRB 121102 is currently in a heightened activity state, and follow-on observations are encouraged, particularly at higher radio frequencies.”
Brainiac Hawking has warned humans against making contact with extra terrestrials in case they attempt to reach Earth and conquer it.
The wheelchair-bound scientist founded the Breakthrough Listen project to investigate signs of intelligent life with Russian internet billionaire Yuri Milner.
He said: “One day, we might receive a signal from a planet like this, but we should be wary of answering back.
“Meeting an advanced civilisation could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus.”
Agencies/Canadajournal