Update: Friday, January 6, 2012 After posting the plots below on January 5, it became clear that we had not stated as definitively and absolutely as possible that these signals are interference. We have updated the post to make this clear. Sorry for any confusion. 
 
 
 
 
 
 We've started searching our Kepler SETI observations and our analyses have generated a few 'hits,' but all are undoubtedly examples of terrestrial radio frequency interference (RFI). Each of the signals below is shown in a pair of plots, one from an observation of Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) 817 and one from an observation of KOI-812. During an observation, we alternated between targets to enable us to rule out signals seen coming from two different places in the sky. If we see a signal coming from multiple positions on the sky, like the ones below, it is very likely to be interference. 
 
 What do these plots represent? 
 
 
 
 These are plots of electromagnetic energy as a function of frequency and time. Brighter colors represent more radio energy at a particular time and frequency. For example, a radio station transmitting at 101.5 MHz would produce a large amount of energy near that frequency. 
 
 Why are these signals interesting? 
 
 
 
 We know these signals are interference, but look similar to what we think might be produced from an extraterrestrial technology. They are narrow in frequency, much narrower than would be produced by any known astrophysical phenomena, and they drift in frequency with time, as we would expect because of the doppler effect imposed by the relative motion of the transmitter and the receiving radio telescope. Even though these signals are interference, detecting events with similar characteristics to what we expect from ET is a good indication that the first steps of our detection algorithms are working properly. 
 
 What's next? 
 
 
 
 These first results are tests of the algorithms we'll apply to all our observations of Kepler planets. During the coming weeks, we'll be posting more of our results as we process the nearly 50 TB of data we collected in early 2011. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Download all 12 examples in a .pdf file. ||||| Here's the good news: You can turn off the loop of the song from Close Encounters of the Third Kind that you've been playing for the past hour and a half. The bad news has come to pass; We haven't found aliens yet. 
 
 The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project has started its first analyses of its scans of the 86 exoplanet candidates uncovered by the Kepler space telescope. And scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, announced Friday that SETI found its first batch of "hits" within the data. However, additional analyses have shown that the project's first candidate signals are just plain ol' terrestrial radio frequency interference. 
 
 But that's not necessarily a bad thing. 
 
 "Even though these signals are interference, detecting events with similar characteristics to what we expect from [extraterrestrial technology] is a good indication that the first steps of our detection algorithms are working properly," reads a blog post on SETI's site. 
 
 In this case, the narrow, shifting frequency of the observed signal matched the characteristics that researchers were expecting to see in an artificial radio signal generated from space. However, these characteristics are also shared by the radio signals created from humanity's own satellites orbiting Earth. 
 
 To test whether the radio signals were truly extraterrestrial, or just us, researchers moved the telescope they were using to scan the skies. After all, if a radio signal is being generated by a source up in space, then pointing the telescope elsewhere would eliminate its ability to detect the signal. In the case of SETI's discovered signals, however, they persisted: A sign that a human-launched satellite was generating a strong enough of a signal to be picked up by the telescope regardless of where it was pointing. 
 
 In short, no aliens. 
 
 The SETI project plans to continue to analyze the nearly 50 terabytes of data generated from its Kepler observations, and the group will update its blog with any additional results that pop up throughout the next many months. 
 
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– Good news for ET lovers: We've spotted radio signals from outer space matching what we expect to hear from extraterrestrials. Only problem: The signals were generated by our own satellites orbiting Earth. "Even though these signals are interference ... [the finding provides] a good indication that the first steps of our detection algorithms are working properly," notes the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence website. SETI's radio signal scan works by aiming its Kepler space telescope around the sky, PC Magazine reports. When signals are picked up, the telescope is aimed elsewhere—that way, a signal emanating from a far-off planet would diminish. Signals that persist must be coming from a human-launched satellite generating a strong nearby signal. SETI plans to keep analyzing the 50 terabytes of data produced by its Kepler Space Telescope, and will update its blog accordingly. (For a spicier extraterrestrial story, read about the White House denial of UFOs.)