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Yeah but they clearly didn't do a very good job on Earth so how systematic could they be?

Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful premise for a book which can simply mobilize a plot device to brush this problem aside. However, if we want to bring the conclusions back to reality they have to undergo a customs inspection which flags said plot device.

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The solution is that the probes were built by a long ago technological civilization on Earth as a desperate measure in an interstellar war.

The probes are out there and were programmed never to come back to Earth.

That's a solid plot device and sounds like a fun story! It definitely doesn't pass the customs inspection for use in speculation about the real world, though.

FWIW, it's part of the plot of Andreas Eschbach's Lord of all Things. (IMHO one of his weaker novels, but weirdly one of the few that were translated into English)

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