Overview
- Researchers reanalyzed more than 106,000 transient, star-like flashes on Palomar Observatory plates from 1949–1957, a period before human satellites.
- Transients were 45 percent more likely within a one-day window of above-ground nuclear tests, with the strongest effect the day after a test at 68 percent.
- Transient activity rose by an average of 8.5 percent for each additional independent UAP report, and days with both tests and reports saw more than double the usual flashes.
- A PASP study found about one-third of expected flashes missing in Earth’s shadow, consistent with sunlight glinting off flat, reflective objects in high orbit, and highlighted examples including a triple transient on July 27, 1952.
- The authors say the timing patterns argue against simple plate defects or prompt fallout, do not claim an extraterrestrial cause, and call for targeted follow-up investigations.