Pulsars: Why We May Be Overlooking Extraterrestrial Beacons

Is it possible that we are overlooking extraterrestrial signals in our search of the skies for intelligent alien life? If alien life does exist in our galaxy and beyond, is it possible that its signals could be similar to what we detect and label as pulsars? We see pulsars as a natural phenomenon, but what if that’s not the case?

A pulsar, known as SXP 1062, is seen to the right, the bright white spot with the diffuse blue emission. NASA/CXC/Univ. of Potsdam/L. Oskinova et al.

Considering the vastness of space, the immensity of the cosmos we search, it seems unlikely that we would ever find evidence of extraterrestrial life in the form of beacons or radio messages.

However, perhaps that is not the case at all, maybe the messages from aliens are frequent and we are just not looking in the right part of the sky at the proper time. Moreover, perhaps we are not detecting alien signals because we are misinterpreting them. Some wonder if pulsars—quickly rotating neutron stars that periodically emit radiation—could be alien beacons.

Some wonder if pulsars—quickly rotating neutron stars that periodically emit radiation—could be alien beacons.