Thargoid Barnacle
The Alien Structure is an organic structure, consisting of a central, ribbed peak surrounded by Organic Structures. The existence of these objects was first hinted at during a trailer for Elite Dangerous: Horizons released on December 15th 2015.[1]
Appearance
At first sight the central column looks very much like a regular, sea-based barnacle sitting on the ground. However closer up, it looks more like a number of individual obelisks make up the structure. At ground level the obelisks do not quite meet, leaving gaps through which a more organic looking material can be seen which radiates a blue-green light. It is approximately 1.5 to 2 times the height of an Scarab SRV.
The peaks of each obelisk is coloured a creamy white, with a strange symbol visible on the side. This is currently the cause of much speculation amongst commanders with many believing it to be a reference to Barnard's Loop, an emission nebula in the Orion constellation.
Interaction
The barnacle appears to be fairly benign, and has so far been unresponsive to interaction. The central column seems to be impervious to damage, with commanders having tried firing on it with a wide range of weapon types.[citation needed] It also cannot be targeted by ship or SRV systems, and doesn't show up on scanners.
There have been reported anomalies near these objects,[citation needed] with ship scanner glitches being fairly common. When nearby, a strange sound can be heard coming from it, which sounds similar to an Unknown Artefacts, but rather sounds more like an animal noise.[2]
Many attempts have been made to make an Unknown Artefact (UA) interact with the barnacle, but no response has been evoked. The UA appears to decay as normal if dropped on or near it, and scanning the spires with the UA in the ship or SRV cargo hold also appears to have no response.
Location
The first barnacle was discovered on the planet Merope 5C. It can be found at the coordinates -026.3496, -156.4044, and appears to be persistent to all instances and is visible from a distance of up to 4.41 kilometres. The first discovery is referred to in a GalNet article posted on the 15th of January 3302.[3]
Since then multiple other barnacles have been discovered in nearby systems, though not all are persistent. A second persistent barnacle was discovered around 40 km from the site of a crashed Anaconda, which is believed to have been the source of the signal referenced in a GalNet article from the 14th January 3302. Some commanders have also reported seeing a barnacle immediately at the crash site. The persistent one can be found at the coordinates 21.9107, 96.9729 on the planet Pleiades Sector JC-U B3-2 1.