The space visitors

A first-person narrator chronicles a series of mysterious, gigantic gouges appearing across the planet that devastate communities. Scientists initially attribute them to meteorites, but a colleague's investigation raises the possibility of visiting spacefaring beings. The narrative follows examinations of the scarred sites and accumulating evidence that the disturbances are deliberate rather than natural, creating mounting alarm as humanity confronts unfamiliar, overwhelming forces. The prose alternates investigatory reportage with episodes of action, examining human vulnerability, the vast scale and otherness of the visitors, and the practical and ethical challenges of detecting and resisting a technologically superior intruder.