![]() Altogether, anomalous properties of interstellar objects like CNEOS-2014–01–08 and `Oumuamua, hold the potential for revising conventional wisdom on our cosmic neighborhood. ![]() Studying these fragments in a laboratory would allow us to determine the isotope abundances in CNEOS-2014–01–08 and check whether they are different from those found in solar system meteors. To study these anomalies, Loeb says we must retrieve the meteor fragments. ![]() Similarly, the first interstellar object detected through reflected sunlight, `Oumuamua, appeared anomalous relative to known comets and asteroids. Yet, it was the first interstellar meteor detected through the light emitted by its fireball. The interstellar meteor CNEOS-2014–01–08 appears to be rare both in composition (tougher than all known meteorites, including those made of iron) and in speed (faster than 95% of nearby stars relative to the sun). What about the 2014 meteor, besides the fact that it may have an interstellar origin, would lead Loeb to believe it could be alien technology? Image via Avi Loeb/ Harvard/ Adam Glanzman/ Washington Post. Avi Loeb knows what his critics are saying, but that doesn’t stop him. My dream is to press some buttons on a functional piece of equipment that was manufactured outside of Earth. The fundamental question is whether any interstellar meteor might indicate a composition that is unambiguously artificial in origin? Better still, perhaps some technological components would survive the impact. Then, Loeb lets his imagination run wild on what they might find. Loeb says they are currently designing a mission to explore the impact area off Papua New Guinea, which is about 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) and in waters about a mile (a couple kilometers) deep. Researchers successfully used this method in 2018, off the coast of Washington state after a large meteorite fall there. Loeb imagines retrieving the samples from the ocean floor using a magnet. Loeb wrote in The Debrief:Īt a cost that is ten thousand times smaller, one could scoop fragments leftover from an interstellar meteor and study them in our laboratories. He argues it would be much more cost efficient to retrieve a possible sample of the interstellar visitor from the ocean floor. He compares it to the current return sample mission to solar system asteroid Bennu. While scientists would love to explore objects such as ‘Oumuamua further, Loeb points out that sending a mission to an interstellar visitor would cost billions of dollars. Loeb says the Earth can act as a sort of “fishing net” for these interstellar objects. Scientists estimate that CNEOS-, the formal name for the interstellar meteor that crashed into the ocean in 2014, was about a meter in size. The release of the confirmation letter is a watershed moment in which the government assists scientific progress by confirming the interstellar origin of this so-called CNEOS- meteor at the 99.999% confidence. If accurate, the meteor, which hit the ocean near Papua New Guinea on January 8, 2014, is the first known interstellar visitor. Space Command tweeted a memo on April 6, confirming the object’s interstellar origins. They were unable to publish it at the time because their findings relied on classified government data. Loeb and Siraj wrote a paper in 2019, detailing their belief that the 2014 meteor had an interstellar origin. Loeb’s book about ‘Oumuamua is titled Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth. The likelihood of our finding extraterrestrial technological objects depends not just on whether extraterrestrials have sent them, but also on our willingness to look for them. And he hopes to scour the ocean floor in search of it. Now Loeb has taken it a step further and suggested that the meteor might not be a natural object but artificial. Loeb, and fellow Harvard researcher Amir Siraj, argued in 2019, that the meteor might have an interstellar origin. Space Command confirmed that the object came from outside our solar system. The meteor made news in mid-April 2022, when a memo from the U.S. On April 20, 2022, in an article in The Debrief, Loeb suggested that a meteor known to have crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 2014, might also be technology from an alien civilization. For example, in 2018, he suggested that ‘Oumuamua – the object from a distant solar system that’d passed near our sun the year before – might be alien technology. Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb is known for thinking out of the box. Image via Harvard/ Avi Loeb/ Herlinde Koelbl. ![]() He suggests alien technology might have crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2014. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University and a best-selling author.
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