“Alien” objects recovered from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean are “most likely” just fragments of a distant planet struck by a meteorite, an astrophysicist has said.
Controversial theoretical physicist Avi Loeb claimed that the “alien” materials recovered from the seabed off the coast of Papua New Guinea may have been created using “extraterrestrial technologies.”
The Harvard professor, who has been nicknamed the “alien hunter,” refused to rule out the possibility that the tiny metal spheres recovered from the sea where the IM1 meteor crashed in 2014 were actually the remains of an alien spacecraft are.
Professor Loeb claims that the unusual chemical composition of the 57 metal spheres discovered on the ocean floor suggests they came from outside our solar system. He now plans to test whether they were made using alien technology.
Dr. However, Phil Sutton, an astrophysicist at the University of Lincoln, has claimed that the fragments were most likely just “pieces of shrapnel” ejected from another planet after a collision with a meteor.
Professor Avi Loeb (pictured) said metal objects found in the Pacific Ocean could have been made using “extraterrestrial technologies”.
The metallic spheres are believed to come from the IM1 meteorite, which Professor Avi Loeb said could have originated in “exotic sources.”
Professor Avi Loeb recovered the metal fragments from the seabed off the coast of Papua New Guinea
“The most likely explanation is that an object similar to what wiped out the dinosaurs here on Earth hit a planet in another star system and ejected some material from the core and magma ocean, which then died upon impact has melted together,” said Dr. Sutton The Telegraph.
Still, the astrophysicist said the composition of the fragments suggests the metal balls likely came from outside our solar system, in a region of the universe very different from ours.
In a non-peer-reviewed study, Professor Loeb said the chemical patterns in the fragments thought to come from the IM1 meteor were different from the patterns observed in “natural meteorites.”
The Harvard professor also claimed that the speed at which the IM1 meteor was observed moving through the universe was significantly higher than that of other similar objects, as he suspected that the meteor could have come from “exotic sources.”
“This is from another star and may be part of a planet from another star system,” he said.
“This shrapnel could have been ejected with such force that it moved fast enough to escape the star system from which it came, possibly with the help of a slingshot from other planets.” I think that’s probably the most plausible explanation. “
The compositional analysis of the beads was carried out by Stein Jacobsen (right) and his cosmochemistry laboratory team at Harvard University. In the middle is Avi Loeb and on the left is Sophie Bergstrom
The 50 iron balls recovered from the Pacific (above) were analyzed in a laboratory in Berkeley. They turned out to be “abnormal”
Data from the analysis showed that the fragments are rich in beryllium, lanthanum and uranium, along with low levels of elements with high affinity for iron, such as rhenium. The composition of a fragment found on site is shown
Professor Loeb used advanced technology to examine the insides of the tiny spheres, revealing detailed patterns of the elements
Dr. However, Sutton refused to rule out the possibility that the metal fragments were actually the remains of an alien spacecraft or that they were created by alien technology.
“I’m a scientist and I’m also open to a lot of possibilities,” he said. “I don’t think you can rule out the possibility that it’s an alien spacecraft.” “Most people will scoff at the idea and say it’s completely ridiculous.”
Top scientists were more blunt about Professor Loeb’s claims, with Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, describing them as “exaggerated”.
Professor Monica Grady from the Open University even questioned whether the fragments even came from the IM1 meteor. Instead, she claimed the objects could have been created during nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands in the 1940s and 50s.
“The islands hosted 67 U.S. nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, and the radiation damage caused by the tests still leaves its mark,” she said. “The beads could be fallout from nuclear testing – created by a man-made supernova.”