Interstellar meteorite may be awaiting discovery on the sea floor

A pair of astronomers say that classified US government sensors detected an interstellar meteor hitting Earth in 2014. Now they want to mount a $1.6 million expedition to find fragments of it on the sea floor

Space 12 August 2022

An artist’s impression of a meteor burning up in Earth’s atmosphere

Shutterstock/ImageBank4u

Astronomers who claim to have spotted an interstellar meteor hitting Earth are trying to raise $1.6 million to mount an expedition to search for fragments that may remain on the sea floor north of Papua New Guinea. But the claim – which was endorsed by the US Department of Defense – remains controversial and other researchers say the odds of finding anything are minimal.

There have only been two confirmed observations of interstellar objects: ‘Oumuamua, a cigar-shaped asteroid first spotted in 2017 …

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