Astronomers Say Soviets Uncovered A 'Quasar,' Not a Space Civilization

A Harvard astronomer yesterday called the claim of Russian scientists that they have received radio signals from highly-developed civilizations in space a "fantastic explanation for what is probably a new physical phenomenon."

Donald H. Menzel, Paine Professor of Practical Astronomy and Director of the Harvard College Observatory, said it was more likely that the Russians observed a kind of "qunsar" that transmits radio signals of varying intensity.

Russians at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Moscow claimed earlier this week that they have observed radio waves transmitted from a star that fluctuate regularly over a 100-day cycle. They concluded only intelligent beings could be responsible for such periodicity, since astronomers have never before found a natural source of radiation with radio signals that change in intensity.

A. Edward Lilley, professor of Astronomy, was also skeptical of the Russian claim. Radio astronomers working at the observatory here and at other tracking stations in this country still have not been able to select any validation in the signals from the star. He acknowledged, however, that the Russian data, if sub-sentenced might point to a "significant discovery in radio astronomy."

Lilley charged the Russians with "un precedented recklessness in assuming that the small amount of evidence they have accumulated demonstrates the presence of a 'super-civilization' in space."

Somebody Out There?

"Until I see the Russian data," Lilley concluded, "I'll not believe they've discovered anything more than a new kind of star. I don't think the Russians have adequately proved that somebody out there is trying to tell us something."

The Russians, if true to form, will "willingly share their data with interested nations, for purposes of verification, but will remain secretive about the kind of equipment they used during their observations," according to Lilley.

Scientists in this country have often speculated that extraterrestrial beings might try to communicate with other worlds by simple patterns of powerful radio waves. Edward M. Purcell, Gerhard Gade University Professor, won the 1959 Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery that atomic hydrogen in space radiates signals, allowing scientists to pinpoint the location of the transmitting body. Lilley speculated that Russian astronomers applied Purcell's discovery to their own observations and reasoned that intelligent beings in space with knowledge of radio transmission techniques were trying to tell others of their existence.