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Avi Loeb is a well-known Harvard astronomer, a seasoned scientist who often talks about extraterrestrial life. His latest book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, will soon appear on bookstore shelves, in which Loeb will reiterate his controversial theory that Oumuamua may have been a probe sent by extraterrestrials.
It would be easy to get along with this idea, but do we really know that Loeb is wrong? Oumuamua is the first interstellar space object ever observed by humans to be trapped in the solar system. Scientists discovered it in 2017 and immediately called it a stone. In other words, it is an interstellar asteroid that appeared in the solar system by accident.
Oumuamua
But Loeb, according to the book’s editors, was able to corroborate their opinion that it was not an asteroid. Oumuamua moved too fast, it had a strange orbit, it left no traces of debris or gas. Do you think the interstellar stone theory is more logical?
Only from a scientific point of view, both versions have strengths and weaknesses. Yes, humanity has never discovered intelligent extraterrestrial life forms, but we had not discovered the stones of interstellar space before visiting Oumuamua.
And who was Oumuamua really? Scientists have never agreed on the definition of this object. It emitted gas, flew very fast and in a somewhat unusual orbit, as if resisting the gravity of the Sun. Was it an unusual comet or a strange asteroid? Is it, like Loeb, a space probe?
As early as 2018, Loeb began developing alternate versions of Oumuamua’s origins. According to him, it could be the remains of a spaceship, part of a dinghy. Or a full probe sent by aliens to explore Earth from a little closer. Articles published in 2019 claimed there was no evidence to support the alien probe version. And the observations that can be made suggest that it is simply a cigar-shaped rock with properties reminiscent of natural asteroids.
But Loeb doesn’t say anything firmly. You would just like this version to be considered. Scientists disagree on whether Oumuamua was a comet or an asteroid, so what doesn’t suggest it is a spacecraft or part of it? Well yes, a possible investigation confirms the stone version, but who knows what the alien probes would be made of and how would our team respond? No man had ever flown to Oumuamua (and it was absolutely impossible), he did not hit him and did not see with his own eyes.
“Understanding that we are not alone will have a dramatic impact on our goals on Earth and our aspirations in space,” Loeb said.
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