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In radio astronomy perytons are short radio signals having a duration of a few milliseconds, detected only by the 64-meter Parkes radio telescope in Australia since 1998. They are named after the Peryton, a mythical creature by novelist Jorge Luis Borges.
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Perytons were found to be the result of premature opening of a microwave oven door at the Parkes Observatory.
Outdated hypotheses
These signals mimic some aspects of fast radio bursts (FRB) that appear to be coming from outside the Milky Way galaxy, but their astronomical origin was soon excluded. Hypothesized potential sources of perytons included:
Identification
In 2015, perytons were found to be the result of premature opening of microwave oven doors at the Parkes Observatory. The microwave oven releases a frequency-swept radio pulse that mimics an FRB as the magnetron turns off.