• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Harvard astronomer believes meteorite that exploded over the ocean in 2014 was an alien probe

Home> News

Published 04:17 24 Mar 2023 GMT

Harvard astronomer believes meteorite that exploded over the ocean in 2014 was an alien probe

Avi Loeb has launched a $1.5 million search effort to find fragments from the first interstellar meteor detected outside our solar system.

Charisa Bossinakis

Charisa Bossinakis

A Harvard astronomer is convinced that the meteorite that exploded over the Pacific Ocean in 2014 was an alien probe.

And he’s willing to put money on it.

Physicist Avi Loeb has launched a USD $1.5 million (AUD $2.25m) search mission for fragments from the first interstellar meteor to be detected outside our solar system.

He shared in a Medium post that the Galileo Project officially got the green light.

Advert

REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/Alamy

Loeb revealed that he, along with a team of researchers, will complete design and manufacturing plans for the required sled, magnets, collection nets and mass spectrometer’.

The physicist has spent years working with the ​​US military to locate where it landed near Papua New Guinea.

The meteorite, or CNEOS-2014-01-08 as it's scientifically known, which landed nearly a decade ago, collided with earth at a speed of 45 kilometers per second on 8 January 2014.

Advert

As a result of its friction with air, the fireball dispersed into small fragments over the Pacific Ocean about a hundred kilometers off the coast of Manus Island.

Harvard

The US Space Command confirmed last year that the rock came from another solar system, marking it as the first known interstellar to visit earth.

While an underwater expedition to find such fragments will be extremely difficult, Loeb believes it will pay off in the long run.

Advert

He told The Harvard Crimson that he and his team would search one centimetre into the ocean floor to collect small pieces of the rock.

“This meteor actually disintegrated presumably into small fragments, so we are not looking for one big chunk,” he said.

“We just need a few grams of material — that's all, a few grams — to be able to tell the composition.”

And if that material is unrecognizable, it likely came from extraterrestrial life, according to the physicist.

Advert

Or it could even be newly discovered material. Either way, we’ll learn something new, says Loeb.

However, the scientist is aware there are still many sceptics out there.

“People say ‘Oh, it's just a space rock. We saw so many space rocks in the past. What's new about it?'" he said.

“It's the first one that came from outside the solar system and, second, it's tougher than 99.7 per cent of everything we have seen.”

Advert

He added: “We should be able to tell what its origin is — whether it’s an artificial alloy, for example, if it were a spacecraft of another technological civilization."

Featured Image Credit: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo. dotted zebra / Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: News, Science, Space

Charisa Bossinakis
Charisa Bossinakis

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

7 hours ago
9 hours ago
  • 7 hours ago

    Man who beheaded his father and posted footage online reveals shocking reason why he did it during trial

    Justin Mohn brutally executed his father and posted the harrowing footage on YouTube

    News
  • 7 hours ago

    Expert urges people to never sleep with fan on and explains how it could impact your health

    I know it might be tempting, but don't do it!

    News
  • 9 hours ago

    Woman, 19, diagnosed with neurological disorder after doctors dismissed her symptoms as ‘just anxiety’

    An Australian had a health scare which confirmed to her that she wasn't just suffering from anxiety

    News
  • 9 hours ago

    Trump names new head of NASA as MTV reality star who did striptease in hotel room

    The former TV star was caught on camera performing a raunchy dance

    News
  • $1.5 billion space probe captures never before seen view of the Sun that could change everything
  • Scientists discover 'ocean shoreline' on Mars that could be the best sign of life there yet
  • NASA discovers ‘spiderwebs’ on Mars that could contain signs of alien life
  • SpaceX secures $256,200,000 NASA mission that could find alien life on nearby moon