Expedition Retrieves Spherules Possibly Originating Beyond the Solar System

Professor Avi Loeb, Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, speaks on stage during a press conference at One World Observatory in New York, on April 12, 2016. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize Foundation)

An expedition in the sea off the coast of Papua New Guinea discovered 50 tiny spherules in June that could possibly be the first interstellar objects found on Earth.

The expedition was led by Harvard University Astrophysicist Avi Loeb, and Rob McCallum of EYOS Expeditions coordinated the expedition, which lasted for almost two weeks, according to a statement.

The spheres are believed to be fragments of a basketball-sized meteorite that fell in the area in 2014, said the statement. After calculating the estimated place of its crash, Mr. Loeb’s team found 50 tiny spherules ranging in size between 0.1–1 mm in diameter (0.004–0.04 inches). And they found them about 6,500 feet underwater.

The spherules have a composition of 84 percent iron, 8 percent silicon, 4 percent magnesium, 2 percent titanium, plus trace elements, and no nickel.

Interstellar Meteorite 1

The U.S. Space Command, which is under the Department of Defense, confirmed (pdf) the meteorite’s interstellar origin to NASA after Mr. Loeb did a preliminary analysis. Space Command named the meteorite IM1, short for Interstellar Meteorite 1. The letter clarified that IM1 predated the “discovery of ‘Oumuamua by about 3 years.”

A factor that led to the interstellar hypothesis was that the meteorite was moving in space at a speed faster than 95 percent of all stars in the vicinity of the Sun.

“The fundamental question is whether the meteor was natural or technological in origin, given its anomalously high speed and material strength,” said Mr. Loeb according to the statement.

The almost perfect spherical shape may have been caused by the immense heat that was generated when the meteorite entered the earth’s atmosphere, said the professor, adding that inside the spherules was found a structure of spheres within spheres, “implying hierarchical merger events of droplets during the explosion.”

The expedition used a tow-sled pulled behind a ship to comb miles of the seabed along the calculated path the meteorite traveled.

“That we were able to collect sub-millimeter spherules from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean near the fireball coordinates of the first recognized interstellar meteor, is a testimony to the success of the scientific method,” said Mr. Loeb.

‘Size of a Watermelon’

The expedition had private funding of $1.5 million by American entrepreneur Charles Hoskinson.

“It’s been a remarkable pleasure traveling and working with such a brilliant and creative team of scientists, engineers, and sea salvage experts. We’ve been looking for something the size of a watermelon in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and somehow managed to find some fragments,” said expedition team member Amir Siraj.

“Much like the discovery of the first exoplanet, the first recovery of material from an interstellar object will revolutionize our understanding of our cosmic context. Our discovery of the first interstellar meteor four years ago showed us that the cosmos is much more interconnected than we had previously imagined; now, studying its material reveals how we measure up to our neighborhood of planetary systems,” Siraj continued.

“It’s also possible that it was some kind of a technological gadget. Just think of [NASA’s] Voyager [spacecraft] in a billion years colliding with an exoplanet and burning up in the atmosphere of that planet—it would appear as a meteor,” Mr. Loeb said.

Rob McCallum said “the EYOS team has now planned, managed, and led hundreds of expeditions of all types, and increasingly these are privately funded, science-focused initiatives. We enable some of the most ambitious projects on Earth, but this one is, quite literally, out of this world.”

Materials Analysis

According to Mr. Loeb’s updates, a preliminary analysis of the spherules indicates they are billions of years old. Analysis was given to independent teams at Harvard University, UC Berkeley, and the Bruker Corporation in Germany. The analysis will be done using mass spectrometers, electron microscopes, and X-ray fluorescence analyzers.

Mr. Loeb will try to find whether the radioactive isotopes and rare elements of the spherules differentiate them from known materials within our solar system. He will also try to find hints of technological manufacturing.

Mr. Loeb said another expedition is coming, and this time he hopes to find the core of the crashed meteorite.

“If there is any big relic, we know where it should be located,” he said. “We are thinking about the next expedition, where we will scan the ocean floor with sonar and potentially find the core of this object, and then it will be easy to tell whether it’s a rock or a technological gadget,” he said.

Whistleblower Claims of Non-Human-Origin Craft-Retrieval Programs

The discovery came shortly after a former Department of Defense (DOD) intelligence officer went public with whistleblower claims of covert non-human-origin craft-retrieval programs performed by the DOD.

Former intelligence officer David Grusch has given to Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General classified information about the craft-retrieval programs, and says he has suffered illegal retaliation because of his disclosure, The Debrief reported.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told NewsNation that Gursch is not the only one to make such claims. Many people in “high positions in our government” have claimed to be first-hand witnesses to similar things.