The hunt for a possible extraterrestrial artifact at the depths of the Pacific Ocean has been approved for Harvard physicist Avi Loeb and his crew. An interstellar meteor that broke up into pieces in our atmosphere and most likely came down off the shore of Manus Island in Papua New Guinea is the item in issue. The Galileo Project, Loeb’s mission, will explore a four-mile region with cutting-edge equipment half a mile below the ocean’s surface.
According to Loeb’s Medium article, the meteor’s interstellar origin was verified with 99.999 percent certainty in a formal document from US Space Command. One of the meteorites’ distinguishing features is that they are much harder and tougher than other meteors spotted by NASA, which has sparked speculation about what they could be. Though Loeb proposes other ideas, one of the most intriguing is that it could be an extraterrestrial artifact, particularly a probe.
Loeb elaborates on his hypothesis regarding the conceivably extraterrestrial relic, suggesting that the meteor’s toughness might be caused by the materials’ artificial construction. Consequently, it might be a man-made interplanetary probe that was released by far-off galactic cultures billions of years ago. Even though it might appear to be a high idea, anything is conceivable.
Still, Loeb must sift through four miles of over half-mile-deep water before determining whether or not it is an extraterrestrial relic. The team is using magnetic sleds equipped with lights and cameras to scour the ocean bottom in the hopes of recovering some of the meteor pieces. Loeb acknowledges that there is no assurance that the mission will be successful, but it seems like a risk worth taking if we can get a close look at an interstellar object.
For the record, Loeb has previously discussed the idea of an extraterrestrial artifact, suggesting that the 2017 space object known as the “Oumuamua” may have been an alien probe because of its peculiar features and unique acceleration. At the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii, Robert Weryk of Canada used the Pan-STARRS1 observatory owned by the University of Hawaii to view the object. Whether Loeb’s peers agree with his ideas or not, it is intriguing that the object was given the Hawaiian name “Oumuamua,” which means “scout.”
Of course, Loeb is still a scientist, so the extraterrestrial relic hypothesis isn’t his only explanation for the meteor (though it’s probably his best). Loeb also offers a type of Occam’s Razor hypothesis, claiming that the meteor could have entered our solar system as a natural interstellar object on a random course and settled in our ocean. Loeb suggested that the hardness of a natural meteor could have been created by events such as exploding stars or the merger of two neutron stars, which creates the heaviest known elements.
One of the most important scientific findings of our time will surely occur if the Galileo Project does in fact prove that the meteor is an extraterrestrial relic. Of course, it might just be an alien space object. Let’s wait and see what Loeb’s investigation turns up.
