It’s way out there
Harvard astronomers claim alien craft spotted
New research from Harvard astronomers claims the only explanation for a mysterious object that flew close to the sun last year is an alien spacecraft, but their bold claim has drawn criticism from a number of other astronomers.
“This is the only other explanation we could come up with,” said Avi Loeb, chair of Harvard’s department of astronomy. “When you rule out the improbabilities, what is left must be the truth.”
In a paper released online this week, Loeb and another Harvard researcher say an interstellar space rock that was discovered a year ago may be an alien craft. According to the researchers, the object’s unusual, elongated shape and unexpected trajectory ruled out conventional possibilities, including an asteroid.
The object, dubbed “Oumuamua,” immediately captured the attention of the astronomy world, in part because of its unusual look and behavior, but also because it was the first observed object from outside the solar system.
“It’s the first object to come from interstellar space, it’s nothing we have seen before,” Loeb said. “It looked peculiar in almost every other aspect.”
Loeb and colleague Shmuel Bial wrote that a solar sail, which uses light as a means of propulsion, could explain Oumuamua’s behavior. In the paper, Loeb and Bial say Oumuamua cannot be attributed to any conventional explanations.
“Oumuamua deviates from a trajectory that is solely dictated by the Sun’s gravity. This could have been the result of cometary outgassing, but there is no evidence for a cometary tail around it. Moreover, comets change the period of their spin and no such change was detected for Oumuamua,” Loeb said. “I welcome other proposals, but I cannot think of another explanation for the peculiar acceleration of Oumuamua.”
Yesterday, a number of astronomers criticized Loeb’s conclusions, particularly the lack of direct evidence pointing to alien influence. Others derided the paper as attention-seeking and damaging for the entire field.
“The thing you have to understand is: scientists are perfectly happy to publish an outlandish idea if it has even the tiniest *sliver* of a chance of not being wrong,” Katherine Mack, an astrophysicist, wrote on Twitter. “But until every other possibility has been exhausted a dozen times over, even the authors probably don’t believe it.”
Loeb said he is not definitively claiming the object is alien, but said it is important to acknowledge the possibility.
“It’s possible it’s space debris, it’s possible it could be artificial,” he said.
Bill Diamond, president and CEO of the SETI Institute, said he thinks it is likely Oumuamua is simply an asteroid, but said he has no problem with Loeb’s conclusions.
“Two very capable, very bright astronomers, from a very credible organization, Harvard, have come out with the notion that Oumuamua could be alien in origin,” Diamond said. “They have not come out and flatly said this is an alien spacecraft. What they have said is there is interesting and unusual and anomalous behaviour which could potentially be explained by it being an alien spacecraft.”