A team of theoretical physicists has discovered a unique structure in space-time that closely resembles a black hole, but it’s actually a defect in the universe’s fabric. These defects are actually stable solitons, existing without matter or other forces, and are comparable to the cracks found in ice. The team examined these solitons by inspecting how light behaves around them, revealing that they would appear as black holes to a distant observer. However, unlike black holes, solitons do not feature event horizons, so they could be touched in principle. These hypothetical objects, based on string theory, present important test studies for the theory.
https://phys.org/news/2023-05-black-holes-defects-spacetime.html