What data supports the idea that Oumuamua could have been space junk from another civilisation from another civilisation? Why is it so important that the Galileo Project at Harvard looks for more such objects? Why is science finally taking the UAP Phenomenon seriously?

Today we’re going to find out about new developments in the SETI discussion (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) that has been prompted by the anomalous interstellar object Oumuamua, that passed through the solar system in 2017. Since the cosmologist, sceptic and TV presenter Carl Sagan helped normalise the topic for serious scientific consideration, SETI has been a thriving, if underfunded, scientific endeavour with multiple techniques being used, not just listening for radio signals; but which until recently hasn’t found anything to write home about, despite a few false alarms.

Until the arrival of Oumuamua, today’s guest, Avi Loeb wasn’t really involved in the SETI debate, but his SETI interpretation of the data on this object, and his impeccable reputation as former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University has brought him into the debate with a bang. He is the Frank B. Baird Jr Professor of Science at Harvard, author of over 700 scientific papers, and receiver of so many awards and accolades I won’t list them there. Avi is also the author of 4 books, of which we’ll be discussing two today. First his New York Times bestseller ‘Extraterrestrial’ about Oumuamua, and second his new book that’s just out “Interstellar: the search for extra terrestrial life and out future in the stars”.

To add further taboo to this newly invigorated debate, we’ll also be talking about the 2017 NYTimes story on military UFO encounters, which revealed that the US Government had not only been secretly studying the UFO Phenomenon, but also covered the extraordinary ‘TicTac’ case around the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, witnessed by multiple pilots and including radar blip confirmation. All of which has led to Congress passing a new law obliging military witnesses to testify about these incidents and alleged black projects working on this kind of technology, and to the June 2021 report form the Director of National intelligence (see show notes). Having never known this was even a real confirmed phenomena, and knowing Avi has since become involved in the scientific debate on this topic too, this interview was particularly curious.

What we discuss:

00:00 Intro

12:45 6x anomalous data points on interstellar object Oumuamua, Oct 19th 2016

21:45 Technological relic VS natural object hypothesis

24:00 Natural origin: Solid hydrogen/nitrogen hypotheses

27.30 Avi’s New book “Interstellar”

32:00 Our star is younger than most in the galaxy so younger star’s civilisations are probably more advanced

36:00 The Galileo Project: Looking out for interstellar objects, in 3 ways

39:15 1. Exploring impact sites on earth, Finding the next Oumuamua sooner, Study of UAP

48:00 Imagining seeding of planets, creating species and creating universes in labs

01:12:30 “Science is not zero sum game its an infinite sum game, because basically everyone benefits from knowledge”

References:

Avi Loeb 'Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars '(2023)

Galileo Project @Harvard University

Office of the Director of National Intelligence Assessment on UAP, June 2021, John L. Ratcliffe

VICE Magazine, Experiencers brains and Anomalous materials magazine article

NY Times USS Nimitz ‘Tic-Tac’ article, Dec 2017