Can we find alien technology?
The project is far from the first attempt to detect signs of civilizations beyond Earth.
So why do Loeb and his collaborators think they have a chance of finding something where others have failed?
There are three triggers that suggest they might.
There is a real chance these exoplanets might be home to alien civilizations.
Second, five years ago, an interstellar visitor, dubbed Oumuamua, tumbled through our solar system.
It was the first time we had ever seen an interstellar object enter our neighborhood.
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So we didnt get a chance to have a really good look at it.
Scientists were divided on the question of what Oumuamua might be.
Others, including Loeb, thought there was a chance it was a spacecraft from another civilization.
Some scientists felt such claims to be far-fetched.
Today, the question is still hanging.
We dont know whether Oumuamua was a spaceship or merely an inert lump of rock.
The third trigger for the Galileo Project came from the US military.
So what are they?
Again, the question is left hanging.
And, he argues, scientists are the people to do it, not politicians or military staff.
As the US report says, the sensors used by the military are not generally suited for identifying UAP.
Few subjects divide scientists as much as the existence of aliens.
The Galileo Project is very different from SETI searches or collections of UFO sightings.
Instead, it will explicitly search for evidence of alien artifacts, either in space or on Earth.
But is it science?
Loeb is convinced that it is.
And the project will build purpose-designed equipment, optimized for the detection of alien artifacts.
Will it find anything?
The odds are poor, as Loeb admits.
In essence, its a fishing expedition.
But suppose they do find something?
Will we get to hear about it, or will it be locked up in some futureArea 51?
Or perhaps the project will find natural explanations for Oumuamua and UAPs.
But even that will be a new scientific discovery, perhaps revealing new natural phenomena.
As Loebsays:
Whenever we look at the sky in a new way, we find something new.
We will find something exciting no matter what.
