Avi Loeb, a physicist at Harvard University in the United States, found 50 small spherical pieces of iron at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, which he claimed could be interstellar spacecraft materials.
Loeb linked his discovery to the passage of a fireball in January 2014. The meteor was detected by the US Department of Defense sensors, which track all objects entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Science alert.
It traveled faster than most meteors on record and eventually broke up in the South Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea. Data on the object is maintained by NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). The meteorite’s official name is CNEOS 20140108, and it is also referred to as IM1 (Interstellar Meteorite).
It’s a pretty big scientific leap from observing a fireball to claiming it’s part of an alien spacecraft. On what evidence does Loeb base his claim? And how likely is it to be true?
Interstellar visitor
We’ve already had at least one visitor from interstellar space, Comet Oumuamua. The appearance of 1I/2017U1, or ‘Oumuamua, was certainly an extraordinary event. This object was observed in 2017 when it left the solar system. Its orbit differs from the semi-circular orbit of planets and the elliptical orbit of comets.
The comet’s trajectory was corrected, and scientists discovered that it came from beyond the edge of the solar system.
Although its shape was not recorded, the reflection of light as it rotated indicates that its strange shape looked like a cigar when viewed from the side. In a thought-provoking article written in 2018, Loeb speculated that the object may be of synthetic rather than natural origin. According to him, it could be a product of an alien civilization. He suggested that we continue to search the solar system for interstellar debris.
In search of this, Loeb’s team searched the CNEOS database for objects with unusual orbital characteristics. That’s when CNEOS 20140108 was found, and based on its high speed, it was assumed to be an interstellar meteorite. Then it was given the more manageable name IM1.
By modeling the trajectory of the fireball, Loeb identified a specific area in the South Pacific Ocean where debris from IM1 is believed to have been deposited. After being operated on with a powerful magnet, he now claims to have found material from IM1.
cosmic spheres
The found metal balls had a diameter of half a millimeter. It is not impossible that they are extraterrestrial, many previous expeditions have already found spheres of space at the bottom of the sea.
The first to discover such patterns was HMS Challenger in 1872-1876. The substance extracted from the ocean floor contained many mineral droplets, which at that time were called “cosmic globules”. Droplets from space are spherical because they solidify from molten material torn from the surface of meteorites as they pass through the atmosphere.
During the 20th century, subsequent expeditions found such spheres on the ocean floor, but they became increasingly difficult to pin down. This is because the level of pollution on Earth has risen in the 150 years since the Challenger expedition.
In 1872, the Industrial Revolution in Europe was still in its infancy, and practically non-existent in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, contamination and particulate matter from the vehicles was minimal. Today, products from industrial processes and vehicles are everywhere. So without actually analyzing the composition of the spheres and comparing them to analyzes of meteorites, none of them can be identified as extraterrestrial.
Did he really hold star matter in his hands?
But Loeb doesn’t just think the matter comes from space, he thinks it comes from interstellar space. He argues that “this may be the first time that humans have held an interstellar substance in their hands.”
However, this is not true in any way. Earth contains an abundance of interstellar material. Some are almost certainly on the ocean floor, but not in the form Loeb collected.
Interstellar matter exists in several forms. Astronomers are well aware that interstellar space is not empty, but contains many different molecules, many of which are organic. Some of these particles got mixed up in the region of space where the solar system began to form.
Alien spaceship?
Loeb’s evidence of matter’s extraterrestrial origin, not to mention its interstellar origin, is somewhat shaky.
He found metal balls. Accepting that these spheres are extraterrestrials would require strong analytical evidence. What is their composition? how old are they Can terrestrial pollution be ruled out? Can the presence of extraterrestrial debris from within the solar system be ruled out? Loeb’s statement only raises more questions, so it’s hard to believe that what he says is completely certain.
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