The trip from Lille to Paris on will only take 30 seconds, Lovegrove says, but it’s going to be an unconventional ride. The metal disk, suspended above track level, comes complete with other-worldly blue lights, and occasionally beams up a train passenger. The design is intended to blend art, design and technology, science and nature. The spaceship was commissioned by Lille 3000, an arts organization, and Lovegrove says he was inspired by Youtube videos of alien sightings, while the project is a ‘speculation on our own identity.' The unexpected space craft is intended to probe visitors to wonder whether aliens really do exist – and what our world would look like to them.

Photos courtesy Simona Cupoli.