Abstract: A system for detecting a predictable time varying signal within a noisy environment. Rather than merely comparing the output of a matched filter implementation to a threshold, a parallel reference is also generated by autocorrelating the weighting function from the matched filter. The original output and this reference are both acted upon by a mathematical operator and the two then compared for closeness of fit using a Chi-Square Goodness of Fit Test, a Mean Square Error Test, or some other test for closeness of fit. A value indicates the closeness of the two curves and is then compared to a threshold to determine whether the signal of interest is present or not.