Roster / Scientists and researchers

Studies star-like flashes that appear and vanish on 1950s sky-survey plates.

Villarroel is an astronomer at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics (Nordita) in Stockholm. She leads VASCO (Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations), which compares old sky photographs with modern surveys to find objects that seem to vanish.

In October 2025 she and Stephen Bruehl reported in Scientific Reports that short-lived flashes on the 1949 to 1957 Palomar plates were more common within a day of above-ground nuclear tests and on days with more UAP reports. A companion paper described flashes lined up in rows. Other astronomers say plate defects and dust could explain some of them, and the work is being checked.

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