If on the other hand, the clustering of quasars near peculiar galaxies really means that the quasars are related to the peculiar galaxies, all bets are off. But since they are all redshifted anywhere they are in the sky, the quasars must all be on the same side of each peculiar galaxy no matter what part of the sky it is in. Arp was left with the conclusion that the huge redshift of the quasars is not due to velocity but some unknown effect. If this is true for the quasars and they are part of the peculiar galaxies, then Hubble's Law can no longer be relied on for distance determination, and the universe may not be expanding, invalidating the Big Bang theory. Astronomers have debated Arp's assertion that quasars are related to peculiar galaxies since the late 1960's.
Most astronomers believe that quasars are unrelated to the peculiar galaxies.
Some quasars are indeed very distant, since more recent observations have found clusters of very faint galaxies around the quasars, proving they are most likely the bright nucleus of an active galaxy at a very great distance. This keeps Hubble's Law and the Big Bang intact. But no one has been able to explain why the quasars seem to be more numerous around the peculiar galaxies. Arp does not declare that the Big Bang never occurred or that Hubble's Law is wrong. He simply states that he has made an observation that does not fit the accepted theories.