“Oumuamua”
No, I’m not making up a new word. This is the title given to an object that some are certain originated from beyond our Solar System. Perhaps you remember reading about the event that occurred in 2017? The word itself is Hawaiian and means “messenger from the distant past.”
Those who are interested in and study this sort of thing wondered if the object was a comet. Or an asteroid. Or something else … perhaps something entirely unique?
Maybe even a visitor from elsewhere in the galaxy? 😮
Apparently, one scientist was certain about that last hypothesis. So …
ignoring the large amounts of research done by other professionals who specialize in this particular field …he embarked on a public crusade to convince the world of the most far-fetched explanation for this natural phenomenon: aliens.
The individual who presented this POV is Avi Loeb, an Israeli-American theoretical physicist who works on astrophysics and cosmology (Wikipedia).
According to this article, Mr. Loeb “has produced pioneering and provocative research on black holes, gamma-ray bursts, the early universe and other standard topics of his field. But for more than a decade he has also courted a more contentious subject—namely, space aliens, including how to find them.” (emphasis added)
The article goes on to say:
In late 2018 Loeb and his co-author Shmuel Bialy, a Harvard postdoctoral fellow, published a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters arguing that ‘Oumuamua had been nothing less than humanity’s first contact with an artifact of extraterrestrial intelligence.
As one might expect, while popular with journalists, the paper fell flat with most of Loeb’s astrobiology-focused peers — who disagreed and provided reasoning for their conclusions. You can read all about it here. (Note: A rather lengthy article.)
I bring up Mr. Leob’s speculations based on the various and sundry comments that were shared on one of my previous posts. It appears there are some who tend to think we have been –or could be– visited by folks from the far reaches of space.
(If you happen to be one of those individuals, you might be interested in reading Mr. Leob’s book: Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Life Beyond Earth, available on Amazon.)
In any event, feel free to share your thoughts and imaginative comments about “Oumuamua.”
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