Scientists have discovered 50 tiny spherical iron fragments from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Avi Loeb, a physicist from Harvard University in the US claimed that it may be material from an interstellar alien spaceship.
Loeb also linked his finding with the passage of a fireball in January 2014. The meteor was observed by sensors of the US Department of Defense that track all objects entering the Earth’s atmosphere, according to media reports.
It was recorded as traveling faster than most meteors and eventually broke up over the South Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea. The reports stated that the object is held by Nasa’s Centre for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). The meteor’s official name is CNEOS 20140108 and is also referred to as IM1 (for interstellar meteor).
The appearance of 1I/2017U1, the official name for ‘Oumuamua, was certainly an unusual event that was observed in 2017 as it was leaving the Solar System, according to The Conversation.
It stated that its trajectory is different from the near-circular orbits of the planets and elliptical orbits of comets. The comet’s path was traced back, with scientists discovering that it had come from well beyond the outermost fringes of the Solar System.
The metallic spherules that have been recovered are each about half a millimeter in diameter, The Conversation reported.
Subsequent expeditions throughout the 20th century have also found cosmic spherules at the bottom of the ocean, but it has become harder to identify them because the amount of pollution has increased on Earth.
Loeb disagrees with the claims that the material is from space, he thinks it is from interstellar space – arguing “this could be the first time humans put their hands on interstellar material”.
Loeb’s evidence for an extraterrestrial source for the material – never mind an interstellar origin – is rather shaky. He has found metallic spherules.
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Updated: 11 Jul 2023, 11:54 AM IST