The true origin of the spheres that an astronomer considers the remains of an extraterrestrial spacecraft
The astronomer Rafael Bachiller reveals to us in this series the most spectacular phenomena of the Cosmos. Topics of pulsating research, astronomical adventures and scientific news about the Universe analyzed in depth.
The unorthodox astronomer Abraham Loeb has been stating that some small spheres that he collected in the Pacific Ocean could be the remains of an extraterrestrial ship.. A new study now concludes that these spherules may be coal ash produced in terrestrial factories.
Galileo Project
Harvard University professor Abraham Loeb made headlines around the world in 2017 when he hypothesized that the Oumuamua asteroid could be an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Recreation of the interstellar object Oumuamuar . Kornnmesse
Previously, on January 8, 2014, the US Department of Defense. observed a bright fireball that flew over the South Pacific Ocean, near New Guinea. Studying its trajectory and speed, Professor Loeb and his collaborators concluded in 2019 (after the Oumuamua episode) that this fireball had also arrived from beyond the solar system, that is, it also had an interstellar origin and that it was possible possibility that it was also an extraterrestrial ship. The meteorite was named IM1 (Interstellar Meteorite -1).
In 2021, Loeb prepared a project, called Galileo, aimed at locating objects that could come from extraterrestrial technological equipment.. In June 2023, within the framework of this project, he organized an expedition to track down possible remains of the IM1 fireball that could have been deposited at the bottom of the Pacific.. The Galileo project is funded with more than €1.5 million thanks to private donations from various foundations and individuals, including cryptocurrency magnate Charles Hoskinson.
Spherules
As a result of the expedition, Loeb quickly announced that he had located fifty metal spherules that could only have originated from an exoplanet (outside the solar system) or be the remains of an extraterrestrial spacecraft.. Loeb thus presented ideas similar to those he had already advanced for the debated Oumuamua object.. The results were made public in a pre-publication (before being subjected to peer review) which can be consulted here.
One of the spherules collected by the Galileo Project. Loeb
The spherules found by Loeb are less than a millimeter in size. Before the Galileo project expedition, dredging other areas of the ocean floor, many particles of this style had already been collected. Many of them had been recognized as being of meteoritic origin and had been classified as “cosmic spherules”: they are small fragments of meteors that penetrate the atmosphere and acquire their peculiar spherical shape when burned by friction with atmospheric gases.
But Loeb claimed that the chemical composition of his spherules (in particular, the small presence of nickel and the high abundance of beryllium, lanthanum and uranium) was not consistent with that of other meteorites and, therefore, he concluded that it must come from further afield. Of the solar system.
The scientific community was always skeptical of Loeb's claims: that the chemical composition of his spherules was not typical of interplanetary meteorites did not guarantee that their origin was interstellar and, much less, that their origin was an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Pollutants
A new study carried out by physicist Patricio A. Gallardo from the University of Chicago now comes to add fuel to the fire of the debate. In his work, Gallardo has compared in detail the composition of the spherules (whose technical code is CNEOS 2014-01-08) with samples of various contaminants of terrestrial origin and has concluded that “their meteoritic origin is in question.”
Abundance histograms . Gallant
The attached figure shows (green lines) the concentrations of beryllium, lanthanum, uranium and nickel of some of the spherules together with the frequency histograms of such abundances in coal ash (obtained from a very extensive database called COALQUAL). We see how the abundances of such elements in the spherules fit within the expectations for coal ash.
In summary, Gallardo recognizes that, as anticipated by Loeb, the spherules have high concentrations of beryllium, lanthanum and uranium.. But these abundances, along with the low presence of nickel, are typical of the ash produced by burning coal.. The simplest hypothesis to explain the origin of the spherules would be that they were produced in terrestrial industrial facilities, such as power plants or steam engines.
A heterodox scientist
Professor Loeb gained notoriety with his daring hypotheses about the Oumuamua asteroid that was discovered in 2017 and which, due to its peculiar trajectory and very elongated shape, was believed to be of interstellar origin.. In August 2019, Comet Borisov with similar characteristics was discovered and to this was added the study of IM1 that had been observed in 2014.
His interpretations in terms of extraterrestrial ships have made Loeb a peculiar character, his media profile is gradually devouring his prestigious research profile as a Harvard professor.. Their publications are aired too quickly, before being subjected to the standard peer review system that guarantees the quality of works in the international scientific field.
Of course Loeb's ideas are very stimulating and in no case are they subject to any type of censorship.. But, like all scientific results, Avi Loeb's, before being accepted, must also go through the verification filters of the scientific method.
Patricio Gallardo's article, which has been published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, can be consulted here.
Rafael Bachiller is director of the National Astronomical Observatory (National Geographic Institute) and academic of the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain.