Methodology for alignment/correlation searches without verified optical flashes

Determine a valid analytical framework for searching for alignments and correlations among candidate optical transients in the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey first-epoch (POSS1) photographic plates when independent verification that detections represent true optical flashes is absent, including the necessary validation steps and assumptions required to ensure scientific reliability.

Background

The paper reviews decades of work on identifying optical transients in archival photographic plates, highlighting the difficulty of distinguishing true optical flashes from plate defects and processing artifacts. The authors emphasize that prior gamma-ray burst (GRB) counterpart searches required rigorous microscopic validation and that similar validation is lacking in recent technosignature analyses.

Given this history, the authors question how one can conduct statistical searches for alignments and correlations attributed to non-anthropogenic technosignatures without first confirming that detections are genuine optical flashes rather than artifacts.

References

In light of the challenging results from two decades of GRB OT studies, and the very few optical transient candidates found, it is not clear how a search for alignments and correlations of optical flashes from non-anthropogenic technosignatures proceeds without first independently verifying that the detections in the dataset(s) represent optical flashes.

— Critical Evaluation of Studies Alleging Evidence for Technosignatures in the POSS1-E Photographic Plates  (2601.21946 - Watters et al., 29 Jan 2026) in Section 2