A physicist believes he’s found evidence of extraterrestrial life

A physicist from Harvard University claims to have discovered 50 tiny spherical iron fragments at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that he believes could be material from an interstellar alien spaceship.

Avi Loeb’s assertion is based on his link between the fragments and the passage of a fireball in January 2014, observed by US Department of Defense sensors tracking objects entering the Earth’s atmosphere. The fireball disintegrated over the South Pacific Ocean. Data on the object is held by NASA’s Centre for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), known as CNEOS 20140108 or IM1.

Loeb previously speculated in 2018 that ‘Oumuamua, an interstellar comet, might be of artificial origin, prompting him to advocate for continued search for interstellar debris in the Solar System. In their pursuit, Loeb’s team examined the CNEOS database for objects with unusual orbital characteristics and identified IM1 based on its high velocity.

The evidence

To support his claim, Loeb modeled the fireball’s trajectory and pinpointed a specific area in the South Pacific where he believed debris from IM1 would have settled. After a dredging operation in that area using a powerful magnet, Loeb now asserts that he has obtained material from IM1.

The recovered metallic spherules are approximately half a millimeter in diameter. While it is plausible for them to have extraterrestrial origins, previous expeditions have also found spherules from space on the seabed. The first instance was during the HMS Challenger expedition in 1872-76. However, pollution on Earth has increased significantly over the past 150 years, making it challenging to differentiate between cosmic spherules and terrestrial pollutants without a thorough analysis of their composition and a comparison with meteorite samples.

Interstellar space

Although Loeb claims the material is from interstellar space, stating it could be the first time humans have come into contact with interstellar material, this is not accurate. Earth already contains an abundance of interstellar material, including various molecules found in the interstellar medium and traces of stars’ evolution or supernova explosions. These interstellar grains, such as diamonds and sapphires, became part of the dust cloud that formed the Solar System and eventually arrived on Earth through meteorites.

While Avi Loeb’s discovery of the iron fragments from the Pacific Ocean has sparked speculation about interstellar origins, further analysis and comparison with known extraterrestrial materials are necessary to verify their interstellar nature. Earth already contains interstellar material, but determining the origin of specific fragments requires meticulous examination and consideration of terrestrial pollutants.