The Facts
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who led a team to collect fragments of an interstellar meteor from the Pacific Ocean, has claimed that 50 molten steel-titanium droplets recovered could potentially be parts of an extraterrestrial "technological gadget."
Loeb led Harvard's Galileo Project to recover the fragments of meteor "IM1," which struck Earth in 2014 and was partially recovered off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Loeb's team conjectured that the meteor was of interstellar origin, later supported by a statement from the US Space Operations Command.
The Spin
Narrative A
Never before has mankind held this type of tangible object of definite interstellar origin, and based on the current evidence, it's not a leap to argue that the material could be the product of extraterrestrial life. We are standing on the precipice of a Copernican-type revolution — if this sample is truly of interstellar origin, and if it's alien technology, it would be an epoch-defining moment in human history. A scientist must always keep an open mind when faced with the new and unknown.
Narrative B
It's unfortunately highly unlikely that we could prove IM1 is of alien origin, much less even of interstellar origin. We must always be skeptical of sweeping assertions, and Loeb tends to make grandiose claims with little evidence behind them. We need to thoroughly examine the fragments before making any claims, and the latest test results are not promising for the interstellar hypothesis.
