70-year-old photographic plates - the mystery of "alien" anomalies

Researchers have attempted to determine the source of several unexplained flashes of light in images from a decade ago.

The plates, which show images taken by the Palomar Observatory between 1949 and 1958, cover most of the sky visible from the northern hemisphere.

More recently, a small research group led by Beatrice Villarroel from the Northern Institute of Theoretical Physics tried to determine the source of several anomalous points of light that appear in some images and then disappear without explanation.

"We found one image that had nine stars on it and they disappeared," Villarroel said. "They weren't there half an hour earlier or six days later."

"And you're wondering: "Is this real?"".

The search for answers was not easy. The anomalous flashes are unlike any of the known astronomical objects, and at the time when the images were taken, there were no satellites.

Of course, there are conditional possibilities - the flashes may be related to missile tests conducted at that time or even be photographic defects.

However, at the moment there is no definitive explanation, which opens up the possibility that these mysterious flashes may have an extraterrestrial nature.

"We are very careful when we write our articles because we are not sure if they are real or not," Villarroel said. "We must always assume that there may not be an alien explanation."