A signal that Russian astronomers picked up thinking it was coming from outer space was actually of terrestrial origin, much to the dismay of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence scientists who reported it, according to Ars Technica. On August 29. the news website first reported the discovery of the "strong signal" in the direction of HD164595, a star 95 light years from Earth, from RATAN-600 radio astronomy observatory in southern Russia.

In a statement, the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences said the signal was probably from closer home. The institute said, "In the framework of this program, an interesting radio signal at a wavelength of 2.7 cm was detected in the direction of one of the objects [star system HD164595 in Hercules] in 2015. Subsequent processing and analysis of the signal revealed its most probable terrestrial origin." The director of the academy Alexander Ipatov said, "An additional check showed that it was emanating from a Soviet military satellite, which had not been entered into any of the catalogs of celestial bodies."