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Mysterious signals have been detected in Earth’s stratosphere and their origin has thus far not been able to be traced to any natural or artificial event.
U.S. Department of Energy scientists say the low-frequency infrasound signals are coming from a source that “is completely unknown.”
“When we started flying balloons years ago, we didn’t really know what we’d hear,” Daniel Bowman of the Sandia National Laboratories said in a statement. “We learned how to identify sounds from explosions, meteor crashes, aircraft, thunderstorms and cities. But virtually every time we send balloons up, we find sounds that we cannot identify.”
The signals detected by the solar-powered balloons have a frequency so low they are inaudible to human ears.
The balloons, which are about 23 feet in diameter, float at an altitude of approximately 12 miles in the air.
“Our balloons are basically giant plastic bags with some charcoal dust on the inside to make them dark. We build them using painter’s plastic from the hardware store, shipping tape, and charcoal powder from pyrotechnic supply stores. When the sun shines on the dark balloons, the air inside heats up and becomes buoyant. This passive solar power is enough to bring the balloons from the surface to over 20 km (66,000 ft) in the sky,” said Bowman. “Each balloon only needs about $50 worth of materials and can be built in a basketball court.”
Bowman said that the mysterious signals could be related a new type of never-recorded atmospheric turbulence, but further study and additional data will be needed before any conclusions can be made.
Meanwhile, according to New Scientist, Bowman is collaborating with NASA to create solar-powered balloon technology to record infrasound above the surface of Venus.
In 2022, a study by MIT scientists suggested that alien life may exist in the clouds of Venus.
One of the biggest problems in confirming this theory is the fact that Venus has an atmospheric pressure 92 times that of Earth with a mean temperature of 867°F.
To test that theory out and record infrasounds above the surface of Venus they are going to need some very, very tough balloons.