From a truck to alien technology: this study reveals a surprising confusion

Sometimes what we believe to be an alien phenomenon finds a much more down-to-earth explanation.

A recent study led by Johns Hopkins University sheds new light on an event that occurred in 2014 in northern Papua New Guinea. Initially attributed to a meteor, sound vibrations were identified as most likely coming from a truck driving nearby.


Benjamin Fernando, a seismologist at Johns Hopkins and head of this research, notes that the sound signal changed direction over time, following exactly a road route near the seismometer used for recording. This casts doubt on the alien origin of materials subsequently retrieved from the ocean floor, presented as debris from this meteor with traces of alien technologies. The research team presented its findings at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston.

The 2014 event had been linked to ground vibrations recorded on Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea, after a meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere above the western Pacific. The materials found on the ocean floor had been described as having an "alien technological" origin. However, Fernando and his team dispute this claim, suggesting a misinterpretation of the data and a mistaken location of the meteor's entry into the atmosphere.

Using data from stations in Australia and Palau, intended to detect sonar waves from nuclear tests, allowed Fernando's team to determine a more likely location for the meteor's entry, situated over 100 miles (approx. 160 kilometers) away from the initially examined site. They concluded that the materials retrieved were in fact tiny ordinary meteorites, or particles resulting from the impact of other meteorites on the Earth's surface, mixed with terrestrial contaminants.

This study highlights the importance of rigorous analysis and careful interpretation of data to distinguish between natural phenomena and more extraordinary hypotheses. It also reminds us that, despite the allure of the unknown and the excitement around the idea of discovering traces of alien technologies, answers can often be found much closer to home.