Was It an Alien Spacecraft—Or a Delivery Truck? – State of the Planet

On Jan. 8, 2014, a meteor made a dramatic entrance into Earth’s atmosphere near Papua New Guinea before disappearing. It caught the attention of Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb in 2019 when he analyzed data from U.S. Department of Defense sensors. This led to the discovery of IM1, potentially the first object from outside the Solar System to reach Earth. Despite skepticism, Loeb organized a search expedition to find remnants of this interstellar visitor. However, a recent seismic study raised doubts about the findings, suggesting that the purported meteor impacts were actually caused by trucks traveling on a nearby road. The debate continues, highlighting the challenges and excitement of studying cosmic phenomena and the search for extraterrestrial life.