If I am reading the articles correctly, the ONLY evidence that the source is local is an unquestioning assumption that the majority of the 'Cosmic Microwave Background' is cosmic. The reasoning is thus: We know the cross section of the background and, based upon local physics, we know particles at these high energies cannot travel through space without colliding with 'CMB' background photons.

It has been established for some time that the source of cosmic rays is not known 'hot spots' within our own galaxy: If they were, the distribution of cosmic rays should somewhat mirror the distribution of matter, or at least star forming areas within the Milky Way galaxy; and that is not what we observe. Therefore they must be cosmic. But if cosmic rays are truly cosmic, both cosmic rays and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) cannot exist, unless the early measurements were in error and the cosmic ray energy spectrum does not extend beyond the GKZ cutoff.

The question that remained was whether cosmic rays truly exceed the GKZ cutoff; and this probe has apparently confirmed that they do. Since they 'can't' be cosmic, and they are not aligned with galactic features, these researchers are concluding that they are produced by dark matter collisions.

There are major problems with this reasoning: Why would dark matter collisions produce cosmic rays, but not multi-spectrum rays? How does dark matter, with no detectable baryon properties, convert dark matter into baryonic matter? What current, testable laws of physics does one invoke to reach these conclusions? If a new law is needed, why is only colliding dark matter an acceptable solution? It wouldn't require new physics to conclude there is a local source of the cosmic microwave background, it would only require a mechanism that is relatively local and in some way tied to the solar orbital plane (an observed feature in the "CMB").

The CMB has three features that were not expected/predicted: Anisotrophy, measurable three sigm 'hot' and 'cold' spots, and a dipole that aligns with the solar system. The CMB lacks the polarization predicted by inflation theory. More than one reasonable hypothesis can be drawn from these observational facts, including the hypothesis that most of the CMB may not be cosmic at all.

__________________
jwj

It's a big universe out there...is it really unwinding, really burning out?