'Interstellar meteor' vibrations actually caused by a truck, study suggests
Controversy surrounds search for interstellar meteor fragments.
- Bilawal Riaz
- 1 min read
Astronomer Avi Loeb led an expedition in search of pieces of an interstellar meteor, believed to have originated from outside our solar system. Despite Loeb’s claims of success in discovering millimeter-scale spherules from the meteor, doubts have arisen among other scientists, including planetary scientist Matthew Genge from Imperial College London, who question the link between the spherules and the meteor. A new study led by Benjamin Fernando and his team at Johns Hopkins University suggests that the seismic data used by Loeb’s team to locate the meteor fragments was likely caused by terrestrial sources rather than the meteor. The study casts further doubt on the success of the expedition, indicating that the recovered fragments may be ordinary meteorites mixed with terrestrial material. Loeb, however, stands by his findings, emphasizing the unique composition of the spherules and plans another expedition to uncover larger meteor fragments. The controversy surrounding the origin of the interstellar meteor continues, with ongoing debate in the scientific community.