The astronomer thinks space technology may be in the ocean. Many reject the idea: NPR

A meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor showers in August 2021 at Spruce Knob, West Virginia. An astronomer at Harvard University believes that a meteorite on the floor of the South Pacific could be something technological created by extraterrestrials.

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A meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor showers in August 2021 at Spruce Knob, West Virginia. An astronomer at Harvard University believes that a meteorite on the floor of the South Pacific could be something technological created by extraterrestrials.

Bill Ingalls/NASA

Eight years ago, a meteorite believed to be two feet long entered Earth’s atmosphere at more than 100,000 miles per hour before exploding into small, hot fragments and falling into the South Pacific Ocean.

Some scientists believe it came from another star system, making it the first interstellar object known of its size to impact Earth.

Now, Professor Avi Loeb, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, is planning an expedition to recover bits of the meteorite from the ocean floor. By analyzing the wreckage, he hopes to determine the object’s origins — even going so far as to make an unusual suggestion that it could be a technological object created by extraterrestrials.

However, astronomers are wary of his claims, citing a lack of data about the object and insufficient evidence to support his bold guesses about alien life.

Could the ocean contain alien technology? Astronomer Avi Loeb thinks there is a chance.

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Could the ocean contain alien technology? Astronomer Avi Loeb thinks there is a chance.

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What is he looking for?

The object Loeb is searching for, called CNEOS 2014-01-08, was discovered in 2014 by a network of satellites used to monitor the sky for potentially dangerous asteroids. Using data published by NASA, Loeb and Amir Siraj, then a Harvard undergraduate studying astrophysics, he first suggested that the object came from outside our solar system in 2019.

“It moved very quickly, about 40 kilometers per second when it exploded in the lower atmosphere,” Loeb said. “And from that, we can conclude that it was moving too fast to be associated with the Sun.”

Loeb and Siraj submitted a paper on their case to the peer-reviewed Astronomy Journal. The paper was rejected because their data was incomplete. Some of the data relied on observations from covert missile detection systems, making Loeb and Siraj’s estimates of an object’s velocity impossible for the reviewers to verify.

But in April, a memo published by the US Space Command appeared to confirm that the object came from another star system.

Now, Loeb is launching a $1.5 million expedition to recover bits of the meteorite from the ocean floor. Based on data from the Department of Defense, Loeb focused his research on an area of ​​about 40 square miles.

“It’s like mowing the lawn,” Loeb said. “We plan to use a sled with a magnet that removes a very thin layer from the top of the slime.”

He says testing its body composition can determine if it resembles those in our solar system.

“There’s also the possibility that it’s made of an alloy that nature doesn’t hold together, and that would imply that the object is technological,” Loeb said. “If you ask what my wish is, if it was really of synthetic origin, and there were some component of the object that survived, and if it had any buttons on it, I’d love to press it.”

Other astronomers are very skeptical

Many astronomers reject the idea of ​​the object being technical, saying that there are much simpler and much more likely natural explanations. And some are hesitant to conclude that the meteorite came from outside our solar system.

The biggest problem is the data itself. It is already difficult to observe small, fast objects in the atmosphere.

“If you’re a satellite and you’re looking at a meteor … you can get left-to-right motion, but it’s hard to tell if it’s coming towards you or moving away from you,” said Steve Desch, a professor of astrophysics at Arizona State University. This would make estimates of the object’s velocity prone to error, he said, making it difficult to confirm whether it is interstellar.

Desch said the data was also “cleansed”. Because some of the data comes from a network that includes secret military satellites, the available data is stripped of information that could reveal US defense capabilities, such as error bars indicating the accuracy of the measurements.

Avi Loeb wants to test some distant ideas. An astronomer launches a $1.5 million expedition to recover bits of a meteorite from the ocean floor. He says that if the object was identified as being of synthetic origin and had buttons on it, he would “like to press them.”

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Avi Loeb wants to test some distant ideas. An astronomer launches a $1.5 million expedition to recover bits of a meteorite from the ocean floor. He says that if the object was identified as being of synthetic origin and had buttons on it, he would “like to press them.”

Jamal Countess / Getty Images

Astronomer Robert Wyrick studies NEOs discovered by the Pan-STARRS telescope, and said the space command’s memo was not enough to draw firm conclusions about the object’s origins.

“I should take it with a grain of salt,” he said. “I understand why they haven’t released more information, but I think that would be necessary… to come to a conclusion about this being an interstellar object.”

“I think there is a case to be made that this could have its interstellar origin,” said Meenakshi Wadua, a planetary scientist at Arizona State University. “[But I would] Add the caveat that there is no work yet on this in the peer-reviewed literature. …the science has not really been examined to the extent that I would like to see it scrutinized.”

Finally, Loeb’s critics point to difficulties with the expedition itself.

said Ethan Siegel, an astrophysicist and science hub, who spoke out loud Criticize Loeb’s previous claims about aliens.

Siegel and Desch agree that there are many variables – atmospheric winds and ocean currents, for example – to confidently locate a search. Desch said the research team would be looking for “only grams of material” after it had been “circulating on the ocean floor for years”.

“If you want to invest in renting a submarine and go down to the ocean floor… chasing a wild goose, you can do it,” Siegel said. “If you want to take all your money and throw it in the middle of the ocean, you can do that too.”

Undeterrent lube. For him, the expedition is an opportunity to make history. If Loeb finds pieces of the meteorite and it is of interstellar origin, it may be the first time humans have laid hands on an interstellar object of his size.

In response to his critics, Loeb describes his work as “interstellar archaeology”.

“My view is that if a caveman finds a cell phone, the cave dweller will argue that the cell phone is a rock of the kind we’ve never seen before,” he said.

“And the only way to find out is to press a few buttons on that mobile and realize it’s recording your voice, it’s recording your picture. Then it turns out it’s not a rock.”