Electrical Disturbances Apparently of Extraterrestrial Origin

Summary

Electromagnetic waves of an unknown origin were detected during a series of experiments on atmospherics at high frequencies. Directional records have been taken of these waves for a period of over a year. The data obtained from these records show that the horizontal component of the direction of arrival changes approximately 360 degrees in about 24 hours in a manner that is accounted for by the daily rotation of the earth. Furthermore the time at which these waves are a maximum and the direction from which they come at that time changes gradually throughout the year in a way that is accounted for by the rotation of the earth about the sun. These facts lead to the conclusion that the direction of arrival of these waves is fixed in space; i.e., that the waves come from some source outside the solar system. Although the right ascension of this source can be determined from the data with considerable accuracy, the error not being greater than ±7.5 degrees, the limitations of the apparatus and the errors that might be caused by the ionized layers of the earth’s atmosphere and by attenuation of the waves in passing over the surface of the earth are such that the declination of the source can be determined only approximately. Thus the value obtained might be in error by as much as ±30 degrees.

The data give for the coordinates of the region from which the waves seem to come a right ascension of 18 hours and a declination of -10 degrees.

Decimal classification: R114. Original manuscript received by the Institute, June 22, 1933. Presented under a different title at the meeting of the American Section of the U.R.S.I., Washington, D. C., April 27, 1933. Revised for publication and presented before Eighth Annual Convention, Chicago, Illinois, June 27, 1933.