Tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time known as gravitational waves first proposed by Albert Einstein 100 years ago have been directly observed for the first time, an international team of scientists has announced.

After months of speculation, the scientists from the Advanced LIGO project confirmed they had detected gravitational waves caused by two black holes merging just over a billion years ago.

LIGO executive director David Reitze confirmed to a press conference.

"We have detected gravitational waves, we did it."

"It took us months of careful checking, rechecking, analysis.

"This is not just about the detection of gravitational waves ... what's really exciting is what comes next.

"I think we're opening a window on the universe."

"Like Galileo first pointing his telescope upward, this new view of the sky will deepen our understanding of the cosmos, and lead to unexpected discoveries," France Cordova, director of the US National Science Foundation, which funded the work, said.

The team's findings have been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time caused by the movement of objects with large amounts of gravity....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-12/first-direct-evidence-of-gravitational-waves-detected/7140750

...The signal at first seemed too good to be true and for many months mundane explanations were sought," Professor Blair told RN's Science Show.
But, he said, the waveforms of black holes are very specific and after extensive analysis all alternative explanations were ruled out.
"The incoming signals fitted perfectly to gravitational waveforms calculated by supercomputers," he said.
However, doubt remained as three senior engineers at LIGO can send a false or synthetic signal designed to mimic a gravitational wave through the observatory's systems in order to test the science team...