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ACROSS THE STARS
UFOs could be AI drones visiting Earth from an ancient alien civilisation, says Havard prof as landmark probe launched
UFOS could be AI drones visiting Earth from an ancient advanced alien civilisation, a Havard professor said.
The Sun Online spoke to astrophysicist Professor Avi Loeb as he launched a new mission to attempt to finally answer the question of whether we are really alone in the universe.
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The new mission - dubbed The Galileo Project - aims to use science to potentially identify anything in our skies that can be 100 per cent said to be of alien origin.
Prof Loeb challenged his scientific peers as to why they are not taking the possibility of alien life - and the chance that alien craft may be visiting us here on Earth - more seriously and accused them of being "closed minded".
UFOs and aliens have stepped from the fringes into a serious debate in recent years - which have seen admissions from the Pentagon that there appears to be something in the skies that is a genuine unknown.
And now Prof Loeb wants science to wrestle back the question as to what is going on from the military and politicians - setting out a vision of what he wants to achieve with The Galileo Project.
The 59-year-old - who came to prominence as he theorised that space oddity Oumuamua which flew past Earth in 2018 could be a piece of alien space junk - wants to find clear and indisputable evidence of alien life.
And even if they do not find evidence of extraterrestrials, he hopes that the scientific research will shed new light on all manner of topics such as atmospheric phenomena and what else is out there in space.
"Its a win win proposition to get more data", he told The Sun Online.
And he is confident, saying its likely when they start looking they will hopefully be able to find some "plastic bottles among the rocks" that could be suggest evidence of alien life.
Prof Loeb has three aims:
- Obtain a high quality and indisputable photo of a UFO - now more commonly referred to as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) - using a high powered telescope
- Research interstellar objects like Oumuamua to further understand what they actually are
- Search for small satellites that could be of alien origin
NASA has detected around 60 exoplanets they believe could potentially support life - and its previously been estimated there could be 60 billion habitable worlds in the known universe.
Speaking to The Sun Online, Prof Loeb - who has worked at Havard since 1993 - laid out one of his theories about the nature of alien life and any objects that may be visiting Earth.
"All you need is one [advanced civilisation] and that is enough to populate the entire galaxy with self replicating probes with AI.
Professor Avi Loeb
"It could be something from an extraterrestrial origin - and most stars formed before sun, billions of years before, and just imagine a civilisation that predates us by a billion years?," Prof Loeb told The Sun Online.
"Its enough time to send a chemically propelled space craft with artificial intelligence out into the world that is autonomous.
"That is required because the distances between stars are very long - you have to behave autonomously - and I can imagine equipment that was put in place by civilisations a billion years ago.
"All you need is one [civilisation] and that is enough to populate the entire galaxy with self replicating probes with AI.
"I can imagine that happening in a billion years, but then the question is did it happen? And the way to find out is not to argue philosophically, its to go out there take photographs and images of the skies."
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What is Oumuamua?
OUMUAMUA is believed to be the first interstellar visitor detected in our star system.
It baffled scientists because it seemed to behave like something between a comet and an asteroid when it was detected in 2017.
The interstellar visitor was long and thin – an unusual shape – and travelled at 200,000mph while rotating in a "tumbling" motion.
Perhaps strangest of all was that the object appeared to accelerate on its journey, suggesting it was powered by something.
Professor Avi Loeb was one of the most high profile advocates of suggesting the anomalous nature could prove it was a craft or piece of alien space junk.
The rising speed was theorised to potentially be the work of an alien engine.
However others suggested it may have been caused by an ejection of gas.
Other researchers suggested the object could be a hydrogen iceberg that emerged from a cloud of deep space gas.
Based on calculations of the interloper's orbit, they estimate that it is roughly 35million years old.
Astronomers continue to try to figure out where exactly the deep space traveller came from.
Yale University suggest the object may have come from a clump of gas and dust hundreds of light-years from Earth.
The cold, dark region is what's known as a molecular cloud - a spot in interstellar space that gives rise to stars.
They have no clear outer boundaries, and are so large that they can be seen in the night sky against the brighter background of the Milky Way.
Prof Loeb told The Sun Online the only way we will be able to communicate with these possible probes will be using our own AI systems - saying its unlikely anything we find visiting us will be "biological".
Describing the new project as a "fishing expedition", he points to the exponential growth of technology as to show just how advanced another civilisation that predates us by hundreds of millions of years could be.
"I want to collect the data and see what I find. I don't want to guess in advance the kind of fish I might find," he said.
He is also heavily pushing back on the stigma around the topic - but admits there is a lot of "nonsense" theories and literature muddying the water around the hunt for aliens.
"I would argue perhaps most of the reports of the past have mundane explanations, but there are some intriguing facts we can attend to," he told The Sun Online.
Extraordinary conservatism leads to extraordinary ignorance
Professor Avi Loeb
Comparing it "drawing the curtains" around Earth, Prof Loeb accused the scientific community of "shying away" and being "closed minded" on the topic over the past 60 years.
He cited fact he considers the alien problem of the most fundamental questions for mankind - and it has the possibility to bring additional funding to science due to an interested public.
However, is the public ready to be confronted with the idea we are not alone?
"We are not ready - but I am an optimist. My hope is it will bring good," he told The Sun Online.
Prof Loeb said perhaps discovering alien life elsewhere in the universe we will make mankind more modest and bring people together across the globe.
And hitting back to his colleagues in the scientific community who have been doubtful over his theories, he said: "They pretend that they know more than actually know."
'TIP OF THE ICEBERG'
"Extraordinary conservatism leads to extraordinary ignorance," the professor added.
Prof Loeb also said while the recent UAP report by the Pentagon is interesting and they will take it into consideration, he wants to collect new data in an open and transparent way for the public.
He said the nine-page US military dossier released in June was likely the "tip of the iceberg" - but said he doesn't want to see the classified data as he doesn't want to be "tied up" by secrecy commitments.
"Science is about reproducing results, we cannot rely on eyewitness testimony," he told The Sun Online.
However, Prof Loeb was "puzzled" by many scientists either "ignoring and ridiculing" the report and discussions around it of aliens.
And this is despite very serious people who had access to the classified data, like Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, acknowledging the anomalous nature of the issue.
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US lawmakers commissioned the report after a stunning string of leaked videos which showed military encounters with objects such as the infamous "Tic Tac".
It marked an incredible turnaround after the government dismissed UFOs at the conclusion of Project Blue Book in the 1960s.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is expected to update Congress within 90 days following the UFO report's release, and the Pentagon are believed to be setting up a dedicated UFO office.
Lawmakers who were briefed on the classified version of the report have also spoken out - not giving details, but suggesting they want more information.
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Some unhappy UFO fans branded the report a "whitewash", but it is seen by many as the first step on the road to truly understanding what is going on in the skies.
The report admits the encounters could be previously unknown aircraft from China, Russia or event a "non government" terror group.
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But it crucially did not rule out an extraterrestrial origin for the encounters.
The Sun Online previously revealed the Pentagon is believed to have in its possession a 23 minute video of multiple UFOs and a photo of a "Black Triangle" rising from the ocean.
Humans are ‘likely to find intelligent life in the universe’ says former NASA astronaut after Pentagon’s UFO report
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