Live data from Hacker News

A meteor or alien tech: Harvard professor plans UFO expedition

nbcboston.com

111–120 of 204 posts

Re: A meteor or alien tech: Harvard professor plans UFO expedition

#112
post #84
post #11

To not bury the lead: His team studied data the government made available from military missile tracking systems, which conveniently also false-positives on asteroids. There was one in 2014 which slammed into the Pacific Ocean at a speed at least twice that of the speed stars around us move relative to the sun, which makes it likely to be extra-solar. Based on that speed & how much burned upon entry, they concluded i…

Isn't it sort of funny that they think the asteroid might be some new material, or at least something tougher than iron, yet they are planning to use a magnet to pull up pieces? What happens if it's non-ferrous...

In theory you can use a special arrangement of alternative current electromagnets to attract some conductive materials : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mQeaKkaEcQ

Re: A meteor or alien tech: Harvard professor plans UFO expedition

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also thought that the professor crashed into the pacific because he was on a quest for alien tech.

+1. That prof must have been going super fast!!!!

He was killed by the government for looking into UFO's.

Nothing will convince me this isn't true, and NO, I will not read the article before commenting.

Re: A meteor or alien tech: Harvard professor plans UFO expedition

#114
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's not eccentric, but a self-promoting grifter

What’s his grift? Running off with 1.5 million USD? He probably makes half of that a year already, what a pay day.

Convincing gullible billionaires and foundations to support his vanity projects

A list: the blackhole initiative, breakthrough starshot, the Galileo project, and now this

Re: A meteor or alien tech: Harvard professor plans UFO expedition

#115

The title is a little silly. It’s from outside our solar system, but there’s zero evidence suggesting it’s technological or made by aliens. It’s just a meteor that was going really fast, and it was made of something that was sturdy enough not to break up too much.

I would think that, if other people agree with his analysis and this does seem extra-solar, and we have a reasonable guess as to where it might have landed, a couple million would be a small price to check out an extra-solar object.

Re: A meteor or alien tech: Harvard professor plans UFO expedition

#116

I will just say that in the astronomy faculty community, although Avi Loeb is the head of the Harvard astro department, his "research" has garnered him questionable and often head-shaking disapproval and a decrease in respect from colleagues. Some, bordering on many, think that he's just out to grab headlines and has become a bad joke at this point (past examples: solar system interlopers as "UFOs", etc). Maybe Avi s…

I mean, we're never going to find aliens if we keep telling ourselves that they just can't possibly be out there. I find Avi's attitude refreshing.

Re: A meteor or alien tech: Harvard professor plans UFO expedition

#118
post #22

Can the title be revised to something like "Harvard Professor on Quest for Possible Alien Tech that Crashed in the Pacific Ocean"? Current phrasing makes it seem like the professor crashed into the ocean.

That's how I understood the title.

Yea I was relieved it wasn't just me. I was confused when I started reading the article.

Re: A meteor or alien tech: Harvard professor plans UFO expedition

#120
post #58
post #11

To not bury the lead: His team studied data the government made available from military missile tracking systems, which conveniently also false-positives on asteroids. There was one in 2014 which slammed into the Pacific Ocean at a speed at least twice that of the speed stars around us move relative to the sun, which makes it likely to be extra-solar. Based on that speed & how much burned upon entry, they concluded i…

I can imagine their disappointment if all they recover would be a few tons of platinum, iridium and such. /s

Or re-entry rocket boosters
Post reply on HN