Anomaly•Registry
Category

Sounds and Signals

Things that were heard or received: radio bursts, ocean sounds, broadcasts nobody claimed.

27 records

Records in this category

See the whole register
Record Case Date Status
AR-0002 The Wow! Signal A strong narrowband radio signal from Sagittarius, detected once, never repeated. 1977 Unsolved
AR-0004 The Bloop An ultra-loud ocean sound, later traced to icequakes from calving Antarctic ice. 1997 Later explained
AR-0005 The 52-Hertz Whale A real whale calling at an unusually high frequency. The species is still debated. 1989 to present Partially explained
AR-0006 Max Headroom Broadcast Intrusion Two Chicago television signals hijacked on a single night. The perpetrator was never identified. 1987 Unsolved
AR-0007 Numbers Stations and UVB-76 Shortwave stations broadcasting coded messages. Espionage is the accepted purpose; the specifics are not known. Cold War to present Partially explained
AR-0008 The Hum A persistent low-frequency drone heard by a minority of people. Some sources found, many not. 1970s to present Partially explained
AR-0039 Upsweep A rising ocean sound recorded since 1991. Seasonal, long-lived and still unattributed. 1991 to present Unsolved
AR-0040 Julia An ocean sound heard across the Pacific. Traced to an iceberg running aground off Antarctica. 1 March 1999 Later explained
AR-0041 Slow Down A seven-minute descending tone, attributed to a drifting iceberg running aground. 19 May 1997 Later explained
AR-0042 The Bio-duck A quacking heard by submarines for fifty years. Identified in 2014: it is the Antarctic minke whale. 1960s to 2014 Later explained
AR-0043 Skyquakes and Mistpouffers Unexplained booms with no seismic source. Some traced, many not. Recorded since the 19th century Partially explained
AR-0044 Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1 The strongest SETI candidate since the Wow! signal. It was interference from human equipment. 2020, announced 2021 Debunked
AR-0045 Havana Syndrome Diplomats reported directional sound and injury. Cause and mechanism remain contested. 2016 to present Unsolved
AR-0046 Whistlers and the Dawn Chorus Whistles on telephone lines in the 1880s were lightning, bent by the magnetosphere. The dawn chorus is made in the magnetosphere itself. Recorded since 1886 Later explained
AR-0107 LGM-1: The First Pulsar In 1967 Jocelyn Bell found radio pulses every 1.337 seconds and the source was nicknamed LGM-1. It was the first pulsar: a spinning neutron star. 1967 to 1968 Later explained
AR-0114 The Southern Television Broadcast Interruption In 1977 a voice claiming to speak for an alien command replaced the sound of TV news in Hampshire. How was solved in days; who, never. 1977 Partially explained
AR-0121 The Russian Woodpecker From 1976 a loud tapping, ten pulses a second, jammed shortwave radio worldwide. It was Soviet over-the-horizon radar, and it ran until 1989. 1976 to 1989 Later explained
AR-0128 The Moscow Signal From 1953 to 1976 Soviet transmitters aimed low-power microwaves at the American embassy in Moscow. A health study found no harm; the purpose is unknown. 1953 to 1976 Partially explained
AR-0135 The Perytons of Parkes From 1998 the Parkes radio telescope recorded bursts that mimicked signals from deep space. In 2015 they were traced to its microwave ovens. 1998 to 2015 Later explained
AR-0142 Jansky's Hiss Studying static for Bell Laboratories, Karl Jansky found a steady radio hiss that kept star time, not Sun time. It came from the Milky Way. 1931 to 1933 Later explained
AR-0149 The Lost Cosmonauts Recordings Two Italian brothers said they recorded Soviet cosmonauts dying on secret missions in the 1960s. The opened Soviet records show no such flights. 1960 to 1965 Debunked
AR-0156 Captain Midnight In April 1986 a message signed Captain Midnight replaced HBO's film for over four minutes. The FCC traced it; the uplink operator pleaded guilty. 1986 Later explained
AR-0163 Booming Sand Dunes Some desert dunes hum a low note when sand avalanches down them. The avalanche makes the sound; what sets the note is still disputed. Described for centuries Partially explained
AR-0170 National Radio Silence Day In August 1924 an astronomer asked radio stations to fall silent so Earth could listen for Mars. A few did, for minutes. Nothing from Mars was heard. August 1924 Debunked
AR-0176 Tesla's Colorado Springs Signals Tesla said his 1899 receivers caught another planet signalling, and later named Mars. No instrument record of the signal has ever surfaced. 1899 to 1921 Unsolved
AR-0177 The Yellowstone Overhead Sounds Two research scientists published the same sky-crossing sound in 1893. It is still open. 1870s to 1937 Unsolved
AR-0178 The Ross 128 Signal Ten minutes of strange pulses at Arecibo in 2017, published in July and traced to satellites nine days later. 2017 Later explained

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