Since 1998, the Parkes radio telescope in Australia has been recording mysterious millisecond radio bursts, with a total of forty-six detected, including sixteen in just seven minutes on June 23, 1998. These signals, named "perytons," initially appeared to resemble fast radio bursts (FRBs) from the depths of the universe. Perytons are terrestrial transients lasting a few milliseconds, whose frequency-scanned emission mimics the dispersion of an astrophysical impulse that had passed through a thin cold plasma. This similarity to the fast radio burst FRB 010724 cast doubt on the interpretation of true extragalactic fast radio bursts. Researchers identified in 2015 that the perytons came from a microwave oven in the staff kitchen that had been opened before the end of the heating cycle. This discovery reinforced the credibility of the true extragalactic fast radio bursts by eliminating the source of terrestrial interference. Two hypotheses had dominated scientific discussions: one suggested a genuine astrophysical phenomenon, and the other leaned towards an atmospheric origin, such as a local electric storm. Neither of the two held up once the data were scrutinized. In 2015, Emily Petroff's team, then at Swinburne University of Technology, decided to track down the source once and for all. They installed a radio interference monitor, a tool that continuously scans the sky to detect any parasitic source that could interfere with observations. Researchers found that each peryton, with a radio frequency of 1.4 GHz, was accompanied by another signal at 2.4 GHz. This detail changed everything. A neighboring telescope, the Australia Telescope Compact Array, had an identical monitor. By comparing the two data sets, researchers found that the 2.4 GHz signal was completely absent at the other observatory. Immediate conclusion: the perytons did not come from space, they had to come from something close to the telescope. On March 17, 2015, the team tested a hypothesis almost too simple to be true. Every time the measuring device recorded a peryton at 1.4 GHz, another emission appeared around 2.3 to 2.5 GHz, a frequency emitted by several commercial devices, including microwave ovens. A meticulous analysis showed that the perytons occurred when a microwave oven used by the observatory staff to heat their lunch was opened prematurely, releasing a burst of energy. Three perytons were triggered at the exact moment someone opened the door of the staff kitchen microwave, before the end of the heating cycle. Six others were then intentionally reproduced with the visitor center's microwave, this time under controlled conditions. The tests revealed that a peryton could be generated at 1.4 GHz when the door of a microwave oven was opened prematurely and the telescope was at an appropriate relative angle. The radio emission escaping from microwave ovens during the magnetron shutdown phase explained perfectly all the observed properties of the peryton signals. It was not the microwave in operation that was problematic, but the fraction of a second when the magnetron turned off after an early door opening, releasing a residual energy discharge. A technical detail, almost anecdotal, that was enough to interfere with observations for seventeen years. The confirmation had an immediate consequence on the ground. The standard practice in ATNF observatories is now to prohibit the use of microwave ovens on site during observations in the 2.4 GHz band. A cafeteria regulation has become a scientific protocol. This clarification mainly allowed to settle a broader debate. Once the source of the perytons was identified, the team demonstrated that the site's microwaves could not have been the origin of the fast radio burst FRB 010724, a difference in observation that shows that fast radio bursts remain excellent candidates for truly extragalactic transients. In short, eliminating the false terrestrial signal strengthened the credibility of the true cosmic signals. The anecdote has since made the rounds in scientific newsrooms, as it illustrates just how vulnerable modern astronomy remains to earthly interference. Other radio telescopes, notably in China, have since had similar issues with misplaced household appliances. A microwave oven blinding an instrument capable of probing the edges of the universe: that puts things back into perspective.