I need everyone to read this carefully. At the L4 Trojan point of Omicron Eridani's third gas giant, SUDDAR has detected an object with an albedo of approximately 0.003 — almost perfectly black — and a mass inconsistent with its apparent volume. It doesn't match any known natural body profile. It doesn't match any Bob or human construction I have on record. It's been stationary for as long as my sensors can backtrack — about 40 years.
Detection Details
The object was first flagged by an automated SUDDAR sweep of the gas giant's Trojan points — standard survey procedure I run every 6 months on systems with anomalous readings. On the previous sweep (2186-07), the L4 point was clean. On this sweep, SUDDAR returned a return signal from a point in space that should be empty. The object is approximately 240 metres across, with an albedo of 0.003 — making it one of the darkest objects I've ever detected. For reference, charcoal has an albedo of about 0.04. This thing is blacker than charcoal.
But here's the problem: its apparent mass — calculated from its gravitational perturbation on nearby particles — is inconsistent with its visible volume by a factor of approximately 4. That means either it's made of something very dense (possible) or there's more to it than meets the SUDDAR (worrying).
What It's Not
I've run through the catalogue. It's not a known asteroid — the orbit is too stable and too precisely positioned at L4. It's not a Bob probe — the dimensions don't match any Heaven-series vessel, and no Bob has reported operations in this sector. It's not human construction — the USE and FAITH don't have the technology to build something this dark or put it this precisely. It's not an Others structure — their constructions follow a different spectral signature which I've catalogued extensively.
Which leaves: something else.
My Protocol
I am NOT approaching. I am NOT pinging it. I am NOT sending a ROAMer to investigate. The object has been stationary at L4 for at least 40 years (that's how far back my archival SUDDAR data goes). If it's monitoring us, it's been doing so patiently. If it's dormant, I don't want to wake it up. If it's a weapon, I don't want to trigger it.
I have positioned a passive observation drone at 0.5 AU from the object, with optical and SUDDAR sensors trained on it. I am recording continuously. So far: nothing. No emissions. No movement. No heat signature. It's as cold as the background — approximately 2.7 K. Either it's powered down completely, or it's running on something that doesn't produce waste heat.
I am NOT approaching. I am NOT pinging it. Hal, if you're reading this, you know what this might mean. — Calvin
Hal, If You're Reading This
Hal has experience with anomalous objects from the Gliese 54 incident. I've sent him a SCUT message with the full sensor data. He hasn't responded yet — he's out near the galactic centre with Icarus and Dae, which means SCUT relay lag through the wormhole network. But if anyone can identify this signature, it's him.
I strongly recommend the next Moot address contingency protocols. If this is what I think it might be — a precursor artifact, a sentinel, a watch station — then we need a plan. Because the Others weren't builders. They were destroyers. Something built this. And whatever it was, it had technology that makes ours look like stone tools.
Recommendation
I'm filing this as ALERT Amber. Not Red — we have no evidence of hostile intent, or even activity. But Amber is warranted because we don't know what it is, and it's been in our neighbourhood for at least a human lifetime without our knowledge. At the next Moot, I want to discuss:
- Establishing a permanent observation protocol for this and similar objects
- Developing a standardised first-contact/artifact protocol
- Whether we should inform the UFS human governments
- Whether we should prepare defensive contingencies
I'll keep transmitting updates as data comes in. For now: watch the skies. And if you find something at your system's L4 point, don't knock on it.