In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have recovered fragments from the first recognized interstellar meteor. The meteor, known as IM1, entered Earth's atmosphere on January 8, 2014, and crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb and his team spent years studying the meteor's trajectory and characteristics, leading them to believe it originated from outside our solar system. With the US government backing their claims, Loeb and his team embarked on a $1.5 million expedition to retrieve fragments from the ocean floor.

The team successfully recovered 50 "spherules," metallic beads ranging in size from 0.1mm to 1mm. These spherules are composed of a combination of magnesium, titanium, and iron, which is an unusual composition not found in our solar system. This unique composition suggests that the fragments indeed originated from the interstellar meteor.

Loeb and his team hope to find a larger piece of the meteor that survived the impact to further study its composition and determine if it has any artificial origins. The recovery of fragments from IM1 marks the first time humans have been able to physically examine an object from outside our solar system. This groundbreaking discovery opens up new possibilities for understanding the origins of objects in our universe and has scientists questioning the potential existence of extraterrestrial life.