--- title: "Harvard Scientist Says Alien Tech May Have Crashed Into the Pacific Ocean and He Wants to Find It" description: "The world's foremost believer in extraterrestrials has designed a mission to uncover an interstellar object that crashed off the coast of Papua New Guinea." date: "2022-04-21" modified: "2022-04-21" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-scientist-interstellar-wreckage" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "astrophysics" - "avi loeb" - "extraterrestrial life" - "interstellar object" - "the digest" --- # Harvard Scientist Says Alien Tech May Have Crashed Into the Pacific Ocean and He Wants to Find It ![The world's foremost believer in extraterrestrials has designed a mission to uncover an interstellar object that crashed off the coast of Papua New Guinea.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Phone Home One of the world's foremost believers in extraterrestrials has designed a mission to uncover an interstellar object that appears to have crashed off the coast of Papua New Guinea last decade — to determine whether or not it was made by aliens. "Our discovery of an interstellar meteor heralds a new research frontier," Harvard astronomer [Avi Loeb wrote in an essay for *The Debrief*]() about an interstellar object that he and theoretical astrophysicist Amir Siraj discovered records of and which has since, after years in academic limbo, finally [had its existence and off-world origin confirmed by the US government](). "The fundamental question is whether any interstellar meteor might indicate a composition that is unambiguously artificial in origin?" Loeb mused. "Better still, perhaps some technological components would survive the impact." ## Magnet Work The discovery and confirmation of the object, dubbed CNEOS-2014-01-08 for the date it's believed to have crashed into the Pacific Ocean, could represent a new paradigm "in which the Earth serves as a fishing net for massive interstellar objects," Loeb continued. The astronomer, who's also set to unveil an [AI-enabled telescope at Harvard]() that will work to detect UFOs, noted in his essay that such a retrieval expedition could be [achieved using "scooping" magnets]() that would explore the roughly 10 square kilometer region of the Pacific Ocean where the object is believed to have landed. "My dream is to press some buttons on a functional piece of equipment that was manufactured outside of Earth," the astronomer added. If his designs come to fruition — a major "if," to be clear — he may just get his chance. **READ MORE:** [Scooping Interstellar Fragments From The Ocean Floor]() \[*The Debrief*\] **More on Avi Loeb:** *[Harvard Scientist Suggests That Our Universe Was Created in a Laboratory ]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()