Is ‘Alien Mothership’ monitoring Earth using dandelion seeds? Here's what Pentagon says

As per a preliminary manuscript authored by a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, there is a chance that an alien spacecraft could be present in the vicinity of our solar system and using "dandelion seeds" - small spaceships capable of collecting and transmitting data - to investigate the planets in the region. This proposal is akin to how humans employ spacecraft to study planets.

The draft paper, titled "Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," was jointly produced by Avi Loeb, an astronomer from Harvard University, and Sean M. Kirkpatrick, who serves as the director of the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). The AARO was set up by the Department of Defence in July 2022 to detect and study objects that are deemed noteworthy. While the draft is not an official Pentagon publication, it was produced in collaboration with the DoD. Moreover, it has not yet undergone peer review.

Avi Loeb is a notable figure in the scientific community for his research on "Oumuamua", an interstellar object that was first detected in 2017. Despite initial assumptions that Oumuamua was a comet, Loeb and other researchers noted its unusual elongated shape, lack of a coma, and its acceleration away from the sun. Loeb proposed the possibility that Oumuamua may be an alien spaceship rather than a comet. In addition, Loeb was prompted to further consider the possibility of alien probes in our solar system after a small interstellar meteor hit Earth around six months before 'Oumuamua's close approach.

“Habitable planets would be particularly appealing to extra-terrestrial trans-medium probes, capable of moving between space, air and water,” the authors write in the paper dated March 7.

“From a large distance, Venus, Earth or Mars would be equally attractive for probes. But upon closer inspection, Earth would show spectral signatures of liquid water and vegetation.”

Aliens may want to visit Earth: Report

In their paper the pair say aliens might want to visit us to colonise earth or simply study us.

“What would be the overarching purpose of the journey? In analogy with actual dandelion seeds, the probes could propagate the blueprint of their senders,” the authors write.

“As with biological seeds, the raw materials on the planet’s surface could also be used by them as nutrients for self-replication or simply scientific exploration.”

David Jewitt, a professor of astronomy at the University of California Los Angeles, however, said some of the claims in the paper are “highly questionable” and called the fact that Kirkpatrick is a co-author “odd”.

“The Air Force is very good at bombing things, but as far as their research on UFOs, I think I’d trust them about as far as I can throw them,” Jewitt told the website.

“It’s not clear that the Air Force and military capabilities are best suited to the study of aliens.”