In 2015, astronomers spotted a distant star which seemed to be fluctuating in brightness.
Conspiracy theorists claimed an advanced alien civilisation had built the structure – or Dyson Sphere – around it to harbour the star’s energy.
Others, however, said the regular dips in brightness were due to a trail of comets orbiting the star known as KIC 8462852 or more colloquially, Tabby’s Star.
However, as time went by and experts were forced to rule out the possibility of comets, or even a shattered planet, the odds that a civilisation more intelligent than ours had built a Dyson Sphere around the star seemed to gather momentum.
But now scientists believe that they have the answer… and it is not as spectacular as aliens.
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Experts state the most likely reason for the occasional and sporadic dimming of the star is actually dust.
A team of over 100 researchers, led by LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy Assistant Professor Tabetha Boyajian – for whom the star is named after – said dust would be the most obvious reason for the fluctuating brightness.
Prof Boyajian said: “Dust is most likely the reason why the star’s light appears to dim and brighten.
“The new data shows that different colours of light are being blocked at different intensities. Therefore, whatever is passing between us and the star is not opaque, as would be expected from a planet or alien megastructure.”
The researchers wrote in their study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters: “The dips in brightness are almost certainly caused by something ordinary, at least on a cosmic scale.
“And yet that makes them more interesting, not less. But most of all, they’re mysterious.”
Co-author Jason Wright, Penn State Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics Assistant Professor, said: “This latest research rules out alien megastructures, but it raises the plausibility of other phenomena being behind the dimming.
“There are models involving circumstellar material which seem to be consistent with the data we have.”