In 2014, the night sky lit up over Australia as what appeared to be a meteor entered the atmosphere and crashed somewhere in the Pacific. Now, Astrophysicist Avi Loeb of Harvard University’s astronomy department believes this ‘meteor’ may actually have been an alien spacecraft. Loeb is launching a $2.2 million expedition to “scoop the ocean floor” in an attempt to recover any remains from the crash.

According to Loeb, the UFO was discovered by the United States government 100 miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Supposedly, the object is composed of material even stronger than iron. His expedition plans to determine what exactly this material is. When asked about the possibility of intelligent alien life, Loeb suggests that “out of cosmic modesty, we should assume that we are not the smartest in our cosmic neighborhood” as these potential alien civilizations have had billions of years more time to develop than humanity. He posits the idea of these probes housing not necessarily biological alien life, but advanced AI capable of weathering the physical hazards as well as the time commitment of interstellar travel. With a hopeful tone, Loeb asserts we could learn from our findings.

Apparently, Loeb has already promised New York City's Museum of Modern Art first dibs on any neat “gadget” the expedition finds so that they might display it for all to see.