According to a draft research report authored by Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), and Abraham Loeb, chairman of Harvard University's astronomy department, Pentagon officials have suggested that aliens may be visiting our solar system and deploying smaller probes like those used by NASA to study other planets.
The report, which focuses on the physical constraints of unidentified aerial phenomena, proposes that an artificial interstellar object could release numerous small probes during its passage near Earth, a concept similar to NASA's missions. These probes, referred to as "dandelion seeds," could separate from the parent craft either by the tidal gravitational force of the Sun or via a maneuvering capability.
Established in July 2022, AARO's responsibilities include tracking objects in the sky, underwater, and in space, including those that have the ability to move between different domains.
In 2005, Congress tasked NASA with locating 90% of all objects larger than 140 meters in proximity to Earth, which was achieved through the use of Pan-STARRS telescopes, according to the report.
In 2017, Pan-STARRS, a telescope in Hawaii, detected an interstellar object that was dubbed 'Oumuamua, meaning scout in Hawaiian. Its peculiar, cigar-shaped appearance and flatness, coupled with its lack of a cometary tail as it was propelled away from the sun, led some scientists to suspect it was artificial.
Three years later, NASA discovered another object, 2020 SO, which resembled 'Oumuamua in its absence of a cometary trail. Six months before 'Oumuamua's closest approach to Earth, a meteor of similar shape and speed relative to the sun, dubbed IM2, crashed on Earth.
The authors of a research paper noted that such interstellar objects could potentially be parent crafts releasing tiny probes, which could explore Earth and other planets while the parent craft passed by. Due to their small size, these probes would not reflect enough sunlight for existing survey telescopes to detect them.
The paper's release follows a month of heightened interest in unidentified flying objects over the United States, including the recent shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon after it traversed across U.S. skies.