There was an object that crashed into the ocean off the coast of Port Moresby in 2004. If the data is correct, the meteorite is the third such object known, and the first one on Earth.
Launching an expedition to find it would be difficult, but the payoff could be huge.
The candidate interstellar object is believed to have measured about a half-meter wide, and its potential origins were first recognized by two people.
Using catalog data regarding the object's trajectory, Siraj and Loeb concluded that it might be from beyond our Solar System due to its high heliocentric velocity.
The catch is there. Data from a US Department of Defense spy satellite was used to measure the object's impact.
The US military is wary of allowing the precise capabilities of their satellite to become public domain information, which is why the exact error values of the measurement are a secret.
The scientific community is unwilling to officially classify the object as an object outside the solar system. The paper has not yet passed peer review.
When the US Space Force's Space Operations Command's Chief Scientist reviewed the classified data in question and confirmed that the estimate reported to NASA is sufficiently accurate, their claim was strengthened.
6/ "I had the pleasure of signing a memo with @ussfspoc's Chief Scientist, Dr. Mozer, to confirm that a previously-detected interstellar object was indeed an interstellar object, a confirmation that assisted the broader astronomical community." pic.twitter.com/PGlIOnCSrW
— U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) April 7, 2022
The US Space Force's statement that the object was from outside the solar system was enough to convince Siraj and Loeb that it was from outside the solar system.
Most of the meteorite would have burned up as it descended into Earth's atmosphere, scattering fragments across the ocean floor.
Tracking data from the satellite and wind and ocean current data can give a reasonable search area of just 10 km.
The fragments are expected to be magnetic, so a ship could potentially scoop them up from the ocean floor.
Siraj and Loeb have formed a partnership with an ocean technology consulting company to make that a reality.
In an interview with Universe Today last year, Loeb explained that such a search could offer us "the opportunity to actually put our hands on the relic and figure out whether it's natural, whether it's a rock, or whether, you know, a small fraction of those Interstellar
The potential for artificial objects to be created by extra-terrestrial intelligence has been a topic of discussion for some time. One of his main research areas is the search for evidence of intelligent life in the universe.
Some of his peers in the astronomy community have criticized his claims. Loeb isn't suggesting that the object is an alien artifact.
He and Siraj write in their most recent paper that the result doesn't mean that the first meteorite was created by a technological civilization. It's clear that Loeb wants to find the object and look at it.
It will tell us a lot about the composition of rocky matter beyond our own Solar System even if it is just a rock.
This article was published in the past. The original article is worth a read.
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