Recently viral Colombian "alien" metal balls

[Ann K]

What they should be able to share, now (if reasonable, elementary investigations have been performed) might include:

Your list is excellent ...for a group who really want to investigate an artifact seriously. But I have no reason to think that Maussan and his staff want any in-depth analysis.

 

[NorCal Dave]

So, looking at a few of the symbols on the ball:

We can speculate that the Indus river/ Harappan culture may have known how to make useless circuit boards on salad bowels as far back as 3000BCE. Note from the Indus/Harappan script:

 

[John J.]

If it is claimed the sphere cannot be scratched/ have material removed, the team have immediate, testable proof- that they should be confident would be supported by anyone else performing the same investigation-

That ship has sailed, that claim is no longer available... as it is already quite extensively scratched...

Ah, but that might have caused by the unimaginable forces at play in the cosmos, perhaps as the ball navigated a series of Einstein-Rosen bridges to get here.

Or maybe the two bowls were a bit scratched before they were stuck together.

I'm just astonished by our great luck as a species that the balloon ball was witnessed, and retrieved, in a town with appropriate facilities for examining an alien artefact. Edited to add: And someone with Jaime Maussan's contact details.

 

[Gary C]

It the German Company actually makes working metal detectors, the first thing they reasonably should have done is test the sphere's electrical conductivity. They literally have to have that equipment in their shop.

 

[Mendel]

Why would the chuck it sits on be wired, if not for a conductivity test?
Note the bottom half does not have the "moon" designs.

Where is the square design in the center? Note both bigger and smaller traces can be seen.

soldering iron is probably used to create these solder joints：

No solder dots, no small traces, no center design. Did they sit it on the "good side" to weigh it? Does this metal globe have 3 poles?

I noticed an issue

 

[John J.]

Note the bottom half does not have the "moon" designs.

This is more clearly seen in a still from the Maussan video posted by @Calter in post #48:

So only one "pole" of the ball has the decoration and symbols- and as Mendel has seen, there's a problem
(well, not so much for most of us, but maybe for Mystery Buga Ball advocates):

I think this is evidence of fakery. The ball's makers took some photos, which they've put in the public realm, of the ball before it was finished (or perhaps of a near-identical ball lacking the "IC").

 

[Ravi]

I think it is the same sphere. That "integrated circuit" thing in the images where it is visible, looks like it (engraving) has been filled-in with a black marker pen to make it stand out.

 

[FatPhil]

I think it is the same sphere. That "integrated circuit" thing in the images where it is visible, looks like it (engraving) has been filled-in with a black marker pen to make it stand out.

Because colouring in is exactly what you do with priceless otherworldly artefacts.

 

[John J.]

I think it is the same sphere. That "integrated circuit" thing in the images where it is visible, looks like it (engraving) has been filled-in with a black marker pen to make it stand out.

Yes, maybe (darn it!), I'm not so confident about the missing design now. As @FatPhil implies, if it has been inked in, it's a pretty strange thing to do with an emissary from the stars.

Black washes and inks are frequently used by D&D, Warhammer and similar hobbyists to provide rapid detail contrast and shading when they're painting metal miniatures.

 

[JMartJr]

Black washes and inks are frequently used by D&D, Warhammer and similar hobbyists to provide rapid detail contrast and shading when they're painting metal miniatures.

That appears to have been done to all the engraving on the ball, now that you mention it. But, interestingly, it is not apparent in many of the scratches. This suggests either the wash was applied after the engraving but BEFORE the scratches, or that the wash was applied in a more targeted manner, with some attention to not making surface detail "pop" except where desired.

 

[MonkeeSage]

This is more clearly seen in a still from the Maussan video posted by @Calter in post #48:

Possibly a weld seam running diagonally across the bead with holes drilled in it?