Aliens out there: Oumuamua

It has been a while since I have got across something as interesting as this bizarrely-shaped celestial object that has recently appeared on our system. Its name is Oumuamua, and it has got instant notoriety around the globe.

The first question people have been asking is: how can a celestial body be shaped like that? It must be an alien vessel of some sort. No kidding -alien apart, the strange shape of Oumuamua has produced all sorts of speculation.

But even though is no UFO, the asteroid is really interested nonetheless. Among the many articles appeared on this subject, I have selected this for a good reading:

Interstellar object ‘Oumuamua covered in ‘thick crust of carbon-rich gunk’. This article of the Guardian gives a good description of the object. “The mysterious interstellar object ‘Oumuamua that is shooting through our solar system is wrapped in a thick coating of carbon-rich gunk that built up on its cosmic travels, astronomers have found. New observations of the cigar-shaped body found evidence for a deep surface layer that formed when organic ices – such as frozen carbon dioxide, methane and methanol – that make up the object were battered by the intense radiation that exists between the stars.The 400-metre-long object is the first confirmed interstellar body to visit our solar system. It was spotted in October by researchers on the Pan-Starrs telescope in Hawaii after it barrelled past the sun on its way through. The name is taken from the Hawaiian word for “messenger” or “scout”.”

No alien ‘signals’ from cigar-shaped asteroid: researchers. As you could expect, “no alien signals have been detected from an interstellar, cigar-shaped space rock discovered travelling through our Solar System in October, researchers listening for evidence of extraterrestrial technology.” More here.

“Oumuamua Update” A lot of investigations have been carried out on the “alien”  Researchers have found that “the surface of Oumuamua is similar to small solar system bodies that are covered in carbon-rich ices, whose structure is modified by exposure to cosmic rays.Here the whole story.

If you have not followed Oumuamua’s story, I suggest you have a look at this video:

Incidentally, it might well be that the fancy object is not an asteroid, after all. As a recent study published in Nature says,”we didn’t see any signs of typical spectroscopic signatures that you would expect from the minerals on the surface of an asteroid we see in our solar system.” The next best guess is that Oumuamua is actually interstellar comet which, due to its long trip through deep space, has been stripped of its surface ice.

Only future studies will tell us the truth -but you can bet, it’s not an alien vessel seeking (first) contact.

In the meantime, if you’re starving for UFO news, here’s the story about the mysterious Pentagon programme. “The shadowy program — parts of it remain classified — began in 2007, and initially it was largely funded at the request of Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who was the Senate majority leader at the time and who has long had an interest in space phenomena. Most of the money went to an aerospace research company run by a billionaire entrepreneur and longtime friend of Mr. Reid’s, Robert Bigelow, who is currently working with NASA to produce expandable craft for humans to use in space.” Interesting, isn’t it? (Full disclosure: I believe alien life does exist: in our Solar System, probably in the depth of Enceladus and Europa, maybe on Titan, as amoeba-type organisms. Intelligent life? Sure it does, but not anywhere nearby. Sorry guys, no UFO for me).

19 Comments

  1. maddalena@spaceandsorcery

    Even thought it’s not an alien spaceship disguised as an asteroid, it remain a very fascinating object…
    Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

      Yes, I agree 😀

      Reply
  2. Calmgrove

    Interesting ‘stripped comet’ hypothesis to account for its shape.

    Reply
    1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

      Yes, I found it quite reasonable as an assumption.

      Reply
  3. sjhigbee

    That shape is remarkable… Thank you so much for sharing:)

    Reply
    1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

      Yes, remarkable indeed…I’m curious to see if we find out more!

      Reply
      1. sjhigbee

        Yes – it’s almost as if there is a different dynamic to the way gravity works in other systems, maybe?

        Reply
        1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

          I think so. But the theory of the comet is also likely -let’s see what they’ll find out.

          Reply
          1. sjhigbee

            Looking forward to it:)

  4. ccyager

    I find the shape fascinating since you’d think a spheroid would be more likely. Could it have been sent by someone? It reminds me a little of the Star Trek: TNG story “Tin Man.” As for the UFO investigation — to have this confirmed after so much intense speculation over the years here was truly astounding. In my opinion, the reports and video that have been made public certainly point to visitors. Makes me wonder what other countries, especially Russia and China, have been doing. Surely the US isn’t the only place that has been visited?

    Reply
    1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

      True. This is why I am so skeptical about UFO stuff in general. They come from several parsecs away, therefore *quite* advanced…and the only thing they’re interested in is to poke and abduct Americans? I’ve surely never heard of any astro-kidnapping in Italy. Something must be wrong here, and I doubt aliens are 😀

      Reply
      1. Calmgrove

        From at least the late 60s and 70s comparisons have been drawn between contemporary alien abduction stories and traditional fairy abduction tales, both often involving some intimacy (one imagined pseudo-scientific examination by the aliens, the other implied sexual relations — or at least music and dancing, which then came to the same thing — between humans and those from faerie) and also some stretching of time (anything from days to decades) leading to disorientation on the subject’s return to mundane life.

        These beings from another world, whether via silver saucers or fairy rings, seem indistinguishable to me, just their appearances differing, according to contemporary tastes. (Jung of course drew attention to the longevity of strange sightings in the sky, and the late John Michell popularised the fairy/alien assimilation theory in his ‘The Flying Saucer Vision’).

        Reply
        1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

          I agree completely, and this is a thing per se quite interesting, if you think about it, which speaks volumes about the way human brains are wired.

          Reply
      2. ccyager

        I absolutely believe, though, and find quite plausible, the notion of aliens from another star system stumbling onto earth and coming in closer for observation and to satisfy curiosity. And I find plausible the notion of sentients wanting to keep an eye on earth to see how we develop. Do they want to make contact? I doubt it or they’d have done so before now. I recently saw the movie “Arrival,” and while I really, really liked that those aliens weren’t interested in conquering earth, I really wondered, if they’d been observing humanity for a while, they wanted to help us in any way at this time. It struck me that we truly were not ready for their altruism.

        Reply
        1. Calmgrove

          Plausiblility is one thing — it’s certainly possible to imagine that aliens might function the same way that the human race might, as in the scenario you outline — though only as a working hypothesis; but belief is a different matter.

          It’s hard to argue against a belief, however strongly or weakly founded, because faith is such a strong human emotion that, when invested in, is hard to disengage from when new information contradicts that belief. We’re like the gambler who keeps betting in the fond belief that the odds are shortening the more they gamble.

          So what I’m saying is that it’s possible that we may already be being monitored by extra-terrestrials, but do I believe it? The answer for me must be No.

          Reply
          1. ccyager

            Calmgrove, I understand your differentiation. While the work done by the US in trying to identify the unknown objects in the sky could point to empirical evidence, I’m not certain that astrophysicists and other scientists would be likely to agree. The evidence must be the aliens themselves, no? (smile)

          2. Calmgrove

            Absolutely, the proof would be in the pudding (as they say)! To revert to another metaphor, some of us are Doubting Thomases, and likely to remain so for an indeterminate time. 🙂

  5. Human

    NASA unmanned space plane X-37B Launched again 2 days before closest approach of Oumuamua to Sun and 3 weeks before closest to passing Earth. The mission of X-37B is top secret, has been since it’s first mission in 2010. Perhaps the government knew about Oumuamua before the rest of the world and they were collecting data since it came into the Kuiper belt.

    Reply
    1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

      I didn’t know about this detail . Point is, X-37B mission or not, I don’t think we’re talking about an alien here. But the asteroid/comet is quite interesting even without, starting from its shape. I’m going to follow on the science they’re collecting.

      Reply

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