Start here

Sightings

Papers link 1950s sky-survey transients to nuclear tests and UFO reports

When
Astronomer Jean Mueller with Palomar's 48-inch Schmidt telescope
Palomar's 48-inch Schmidt telescope, used for the 1950s sky survey Palomar Observatory (scan by Michael Vergara), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Two peer-reviewed papers by Beatriz Villarroel, Stephen Bruehl and colleagues reported that brief star-like flashes on 1950s Palomar survey plates clustered around nuclear test dates and UFO reports. Other astronomers argued the flashes are plate or copying artifacts.

Sources

  1. FirsthandAligned, Multiple-transient Events in the First Palomar Sky Survey (PASP 137:10)Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (IOP) / 2025-10-17
  2. FirsthandTransients in the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS-I) may be associated with nuclear testing and reports of unidentified anomalous phenomenaScientific Reports (Nature Portfolio) / 2025-10-20
  3. OtherCritical evaluation of studies alleging evidence for technosignatures in the POSS1-E photographic platesPublications of the Astronomical Society of Australia (Cambridge University Press) / 2026-07

How sources are chosen and tiered

Where it fits

See it on the timelineMore in Sightings