The first signs of a particle heavier than the Higgs boson has been seen at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Unexplained by current models, its existence might lead to the discovery of a whole new set of particles and possibly even a fifth fundamental force.

But the first results are not enough to confirm the particle exists, and more measurements still need to be taken when the LHC begins to fire up again next month.

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Two of the detectors, ATLAS and CMS, were searching for new physics by counting particle decays that ended up in two photons, and found a potential new particle. If it turns out to be real, and not a blip, this would be a huge discovery. Two high-energy photons whose energy, shown in red, was measured in the CMS is illustrated

In data produced last December at the LHC in Geneva, two separate measurements found what looked like a particle six time heavier than the Higgs boson.

If it turns out to be real, and not just a blip in the measurements, this would be a huge discovery.

'It would be something completely beyond the Standard Model, and the tip of an iceberg of a large new set of particles,' Professor John Ellis, theoretical physicist at Kings College London told MailOnline, 'if it exists!'

Two of the detectors, ATLAS and CMS, were searching for new physics by counting particle decays that ended up in two photons.

Measuring photons is a good method for detecting new physics because photons are easy to detect and physicists know what to expect in terms of results from background events.

They both separately saw photons with a combined energy of 750 GeV.

When particles decay into photons, they release energy equivalent to their mass multiplied by the speed of light squared.

We’re all familiar with Einstein’s most famous equation, and this observation is it in action. This means the particle that produced these photons is an as yet unknown with this exact amount of energy in the form of its mass.

‘It weighs about 750 GeV, corresponding to about six times heavier than the Higgs boson, and almost 800 times heavier than the proton,’ said Ellis.

It was a similar 'bump' that gave the first hints to the Higgs boson.

But the difference now is that the existence of the Higgs boson had already been predicted.

This new particle, if it exists, has not been predicted by the Standard Model, so would open up physicists to a whole new unexplored world and could lead to the discovery of a new set of particles.

In December last year the two observations, in the ATLAS and CMS detectors, hinted at a new particle six times heavier than the Higgs boson. The LHC will start making more collisions next month, April 2016, and experts can expect confirmation or refutation in the summer