A strange, unidentified space object that is believed to be from another star system, has intrigued astronomers ever since it was first seen in 2017. Now, Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has dedicated himself to find out what it was.
To Loeb, the object also referred to as ‘Oumuamua, could have been the smoking gun in a much larger scientific question. He believes that ‘Oumuamua could be evidence of an alien civilization that sent a spacecraft to visit our planet. There have been many instances where such sightings were reported.
The Galileo Project
For further investigation, Loeb has started a new workgroup at Harvard known as the Galileo Project. The prime goal of the project is to “bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations (ETCs) from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends to the mainstream of transparent, validated, and systematic scientific research,” according to a mission statement.
In his recently published book “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth,” Loeb has explored the same theory. As Science reports, many investors reached out to Loeb after the book was launched, garnering a total of $1.75 million funding for the project.
The alien technology topic has seen new developments in recent times. The project was formed right after Pentagon made a high profile report public on “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” (UAPs). The report detailed UFO sightings made by military pilots in the last 20 years, but there was no explanation about the mysterious sightings.
Exploring physical evidence of aliens
Loeb recently wrote in a Scientific American op-ed that “rather than simply wonder about possible scenarios, we should collect better scientific data and clarify the nature of UAP,” while conceding that “the possibility that any UAP are extraterrestrial is highly speculative.”
He also wants to explore for physical evidence and not just rely on electromagnetic signals from interstellar civilizations. He told USA Today that interstellar space objects “that look peculiar we should follow up by sending a camera on a space rocket that gets close to them and taking a close-up photograph.”
