In January 2014, a meteor entered the Earth’s atmosphere in the western Pacific, as evidenced by distinct vibration signatures at the Papua New Guinea seismic station. Last year, scientists announced that rubble found from the seafloor was the remains of that event (some even speculated that it was a form of alien technology). But now, another team has come up with a different explanation: The vibrations were caused by a truck on a nearby road that drove past the meteor as it plummeted from the atmosphere. What’s more, the team concluded that the rock fragments found on the Pacific Ocean floor did not come from the meteor and likely entered the ocean about 100 miles away from the original search area.
“The signal changes direction over time and exactly matches the path it took through the seismometer,” said Benjamin Fernando, a planetary seismologist at Johns Hopkins University who led the study. study will present next week at the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston.
“It’s really difficult to receive a signal and confirm that it’s not coming from something,” Fernando added. “But what we can do is show that there are a lot of these signals and show that they have all the characteristics we would expect a truck to have, but none of the characteristics we would expect a meteor to have.”
Meteors are large pieces of space debris that enter Earth’s atmosphere.They come in many shapes and sizes and can help scientists understand the solar system and its history The origin of water on Earth.The biggest of this century is The Chelyabinsk meteorite exploded over Russia In 2013, about 1,600 people were injured when glass shattered, setting off car alarms. Not all meteors are alien, though.Last year, a team of researchers studied a meteorite that landed in the Sahara Desert in 2018 Conclusion It actually originated on Earth.
Preliminary analysis of the meteor fall was conducted using data from the seismometer AU MANU near Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. That analysis, publish In September 2023, it was concluded that the meteorite was of interstellar origin and fell into the ocean to the north of the island.
But in the new paper, Fernando’s team relied on data from acoustic stations in Australia and Palau that were originally set up to detect vibrations from nuclear tests. The data suggests the meteor may have fallen more than 100 miles from where the space rock was initially searched.
“The localization of the scattered areas relied on single sites and signals with no clear phase,” the researchers wrote. “We therefore believe that it is highly exaggerated at best and completely wrong at worst.”
Avi Loeb, Famous researcher at Harvard University and supporters of the idea Interstellar object “Oumuamua” Maybe an alien probe speculative Recovered spherical rock fragments may be alien technology. But based on recent team data, that material has nothing to do with the 2014 Fireball.
“Nothing found on the ocean floor has anything to do with this meteor, whether it is a natural space rock or fragments of an alien spacecraft, although we strongly suspect it is not alien,” Fernando said.
A team led by Loeb will also be in attendance their findingsdescribing the composition and potential origin of the 850 pellets at next week’s meeting.
Fernando’s team concluded that the orbs were indeed meteorites, or a combination of meteorites and terrestrial material, but were not related to the 2014 meteor crash.
The truth is out there – whether it’s at the bottom of the ocean or in the data collected when meteors fall. Even if the findings aren’t as bizarre as alien technology, discussing all the possibilities and reviewing the data through the scientific process can tie this meteorite saga with a nice little bow.
more: 10 years ago today, the Chelyabinsk meteor exploded over Russia