We report on four radio-detected cosmic-ray (CR) or CR-like events observed with the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA), a NASA-sponsored long-duration balloon payload. Two of the four were previously identified as stratospheric CR air showers during the ANITA-I flight. A third stratospheric CR was detected during the ANITA-II flight. Here, we report on characteristics of these three unusual CR events, which develop nearly horizontally, 20-30 km above the surface of Earth. In addition, we report on a fourth steeply upward-pointing ANITA-I CR-like radio event which has characteristics consistent with a primary that emerged from the surface of the ice. This suggests a possible τ-lepton decay as the origin of this event, but such an interpretation would require significant suppression of the standard model τ-neutrino cross section.

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The ANtarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) NASA long-duration balloon payload completed its fourth flight in December 2016, after 28 days of flight time. ANITA is sensitive to impulsive broadband radio emission from interactions of ultra-high-energy neutrinos in polar ice (Askaryan emission). We present the results of two separate blind analyses searching for signals from Askaryan emission in the data from the fourth flight of ANITA. The more sensitive analysis, with a better expected limit, has a background estimate of 0.64 +0.69 −0.45 and an analysis efficiency of 82±2%. The second analysis has a background estimate of 0.34 +0.66 −0.16 and an analysis efficiency of 71±6%. Each analysis found one event in the signal region, consistent with the background estimate for each analysis. The resulting limit further tightens the constraints on the diffuse flux of ultra-high-energy neutrinos at energies above 10 19.5 eV.

Recently, the ANITA collaboration reported on two upward-going extensive air shower events consistent with a primary particle that emerges from the surface of the Antarctic ice sheet. These events may be of ντ origin, in which the neutrino interacts within the Earth to produce a τ lepton that emerges from the Earth, decays in the atmosphere, and initiates an extensive air shower. In this paper we estimate an upper bound on the ANITA acceptance to a diffuse ντ flux detected via τ -lepton-induced air showers within the bounds of Standard Model uncertainties. By comparing this estimate with the acceptance of Pierre Auger Observatory and IceCube and assuming Standard Model interactions, we conclude that a ντ origin of these events would imply a neutrino flux at least two orders of magnitude above current bounds.