A HARVARD professor claims an odd space object to enter the solar system is not another rock formation but rather, evidence of intelligent life outside the earth.
Avi Loeb, Harvard’s Department of Astronomy chair, believes aliens dropped some space garbage over earth’s atmosphere in 2017, and it’s proof that life beyond humans exists.
A Harvard professor believes this rendering of a space object is alien junkCredit: AFP
Avi Loeb said the object moved too fast to be naturally occurringCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Loeb’s upcoming book, “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth,” lays out a case for why a recent object that flew into our solar system might be proof that life outside exists.
On September 6, 2017, an object from the star Vega – a close star about 25 light-years away – entered our atmosphere only to move closer to the sun on September 9. By the end of the month, it flew by Venus at a rate of 58,900 miles per hour.
It then came close to earth on October 7 before it began “moving swiftly toward the constellation Pegasus and the blackness beyond,” Loeb wrote in his book.
The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) in a Hawaiian observatory first spotted the object using the Pan-STARRS most well-defined telescope on earth.
His book discussed how astronomers and scientists have tried tracking down the object since it entered the solar system in 2017Credit: Getty Images – Getty
Loeb said no naturally occurring object is five to 10 times longer than it is widerCredit: Getty – Contributor
There, the object was monikered “Oumuamua,” which is Hawaiian for “scout.” The pronunciation is “oh-moo-ah-moo-ah.”
Although the object was just a small 100-yard-long object, those in the scientific community looked to it as a learning point.
It was the the first interstellar object ever detected inside our solar system, and given its trajectory, some astronomers have declared it was not bound by the sun’s gravitational pull.
Although no clear photos of the object were taken, observatories trained their telescopes on the object for almost two weeks, allowing data to be collected that denied a simple explanation of just another comet.
“What would happen if a caveman saw a cellphone?” Loeb asked. “He’s seen rocks all his life, and he would have thought it was just a shiny rock.”
Loeb took fault with some astronomers claiming the object was a comet, saying it was akin to letting “the familiar to define what we might discover.”
Loeb said astronomers began looking at the object’s dimensions, and the fact that it reflected sunlight at a similar brightness every eight hours, suggesting that was how long it needed to complete a full rotation.
Astronomers said the object was about five to ten times longer than it was wide, relating it to a sort of cigar shape.
Loeb says no natural space object looks like that.
Scientists found it entered the solar system in September 2017Credit: NASA/ESA/STScl
The object moved faster as it went away from the sun, the opposite of what naturally occurring comets do Credit: PA:Press Association
“This would make ‘Oumuamua’s geometry more extreme by at least a few times in aspect ratio – or its width to its height – than the most extreme asteroids or comets that we have ever seen,” Loeb wrote.
“Oumuamua was unusually bright. It was at least ‘ten times more reflective than typical solar system [stony] asteroids or comets,'” Loeb continued.
Relating it to a shiny space metal, Loeb’s assertions that it was evident of extraterrestrial life is because of how it moved.
“The excess push away from the sun,” Loeb wrote, “that was the thing that broke the camel’s back.”
Normally, an object would move faster the closer it gets towards the sun, only to be pushed back and get slower the further it goes.
However, the object instead accelerated “slightly, but to a highly statistically significant extent,” Loeb wrote.
Given that it would mean the object had some other force pulling it along outside of the sun’s pull, Loeb believes it might just be something extraterrestrial life had dropped.
However, the notion that life outside earth exists is seen as a taboo in the scientific community.
“Some people do not want to discuss the possibility that there are other civilizations out there,” he ended.
Video captured by SpaceX Dragon craft shows UFO flying past ISS
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
