Avi Loeb, the chair of the astronomy department at Harvard, has caused a stir in the scientific community with his suggestion that ‘Oumuamua, the mysterious object that passed through our solar system in 2017, may have been an extraterrestrial spacecraft that paid us a visit. Loeb’s theory has been met with both excitement and skepticism, with some of his colleagues pushing back against his idea.
In a paper published in 2021, Loeb argued that ‘Oumuamua could have been a probe sent by an alien civilization, an explanation that has been divisive among researchers.
He based his argument on the object’s unusual characteristics, such as its elongated shape and non-gravitational acceleration, which he says cannot be fully explained by natural phenomena. Loeb also suggested that ‘Oumuamua was propelled by a solar sail, a type of propulsion that uses the pressure of sunlight to move through space.
However, a team of international researchers attempted to dismantle Loeb’s theory by arguing that ‘Oumuamua was unlikely to be a solar sail. They claimed that if ‘Oumuamua was a solar sail, it would have had a large, flat surface that would have reflected more sunlight than what was observed. Despite this pushback, Loeb remains convinced that ‘Oumuamua was not a natural object.
Loeb believes that ‘Oumuamua could be a piece of alien spacecraft debris, potentially from a larger vessel that was torn apart. He also suggests that the object’s unusual characteristics could be explained by its artificial origin. However, without more data, it is impossible to know for certain what ‘Oumuamua really was.
While it is rare for an interstellar object like ‘Oumuamua to pass through our solar system, continued scientific investigation and new technology may help us better understand such phenomena in the future. As Loeb and his colleagues suggest, with more accurate observation data, we may finally be able to solve the mystery of ‘Oumuamua and gain a deeper understanding of the universe around us.
