Are anomalies exclusive to the first player to find them?

[CoyoteTraveller]

It makes sense that some of them would be...like, stuff that adds a planet modifier, or that change a planet type. But some of the others seem like they don't have to be. Right now I've got a policy of "don't kill any monsters in a system until I have a science vessel right next door to swoop in and scan it all", but even when I do that, other empires seem to know telepathically when to appear and beat me to some areas in the midgame.

Basically do I really really need to rush to get everywhere first? And, can other people steal your missions if you uncover them first? Is there a reason to bother surveying planets next to (or inside) someone else's home system if you don't plan to take it yourself, when you are pretty certain they've already surveyed it themselves?

[FarVision]

That's the balance. You can explore fast and grab the early stuff, but risk triggering someone. In my experience unique stuff pops only once. I've had my eye on a group of Crystals or Ameobas. Saw another fleet in the area, and when I got back to the area - zip. So I think its first come first serve.

[tiberiansun371alexw]

I think anomalies are exclusive. I can't get them to proc where a nation I had contact with surveyed them... even if I go into the files and striked the surveyed planets off of the other empire's "srveyed" list!

[CoyoteTraveller]

okay, another question--
not just the special projects. If you _find_ an anomaly but ignore it (so, there's a microscope icon on the system), can someone else investigate that anomaly? Or does it lock it so that only your empire can investigate it? I hear there's some anomalies that are worth putting off investigation of, until you have a leader with very specific traits. Want to know if I need to keep my borders closed if I want to save one of those for later, after I find it.