The US Space Command (USSC) confirm that a meteor that had hit Earth in 2012 came from another solar system and is, therefore, declared as the interstellar object.
The USSC in a Twitter post reveale its findings with a memo confirming the work of Harvard astronomers Amir Siraj and Abraham Loeb.
The memo confirms that a space rock from another star system did strike Earth in 2014.
The US space department state that the velocity and trajectory of the 1.5 feet long meteor suggested the space rock was extrasolar in origins.
NASA had state that the meteor lit up skies near Manus Island, Papua New Guinea on 8th January 2014 whilst travelling at more than 1,00,000 miles per hour.
6/ “I had the pleasure of signing a memo with @ussfspoc’s Chief Scientist, Dr. Mozer, to confirm that a previously-detected interstellar object was indeed an interstellar object, a confirmation that assisted the broader astronomical community.” pic.twitter.com/PGlIOnCSrW
— U.S. Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) April 7, 2022
Lt Gen John Shaw, the deputy commander of the USSC, Said :
“I had the pleasure of signing a memo with @ussfspoc ‘s Chief Scientist, Dr. Mozer, to confirm that a previously-detected interstellar object was indeed an interstellar object, a confirmation that assisted the broader astronomical community,”.
The research paper written by Dr Siraj and Dr Loeb report the meteor as originating from interstellar space with “99.999 per cent confidence”.
The researchers also calculate that the Earth is struck by an extrasolar meteor around once a decade and, so, more than 450 million such meteors striking our planet over its lifespan so far.
“Potentially, interstellar meteors could deliver life from another planetary system and mediate panspermia,” their paper read as per Independent.
Dr Loeb in the paper also argue that the Oumuamua could have a form of Alien technology, rather than an extrasolar asteroid, but, for now, this is a minority position among the astronomy community.
