stranger than heaven: Fact-Checking the Viral Rumor That a Mysterious Radio Signal Is a Message from a Parallel Universe
A viral claim circulating on social media suggests that scientists have decoded a radio signal from deep space that contains a message from a parallel universe, calling it "stranger than heaven" in its implications. This originated from a doctored screenshot of a supposed press release from the SETI Institute. However, fact-checkers confirm this is fake. The real SETI Institute has issued no such statement, and the image of the signal waveform was lifted from a 2018 study about pulsars. While the universe is indeed stranger than fiction, no evidence exists of extraterrestrial or interdimensional communication. The rumor likely stems from a misinterpretation of a legitimate scientific paper on cosmic background noise.