If this starts at the beginning of the file, then it indicates that the file is UTF-16 (LE).
UTF-8[t 1] EF BB BF 239 187 191 UTF-16 (BE) FE FF 254 255 UTF-16 (LE) FF FE 255 254 UTF-32 (BE) 00 00 FE FF 0 0 254 255 UTF-32 (LE) FF FE 00 00 255 254 0 0 -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
