This mysterious object could be an alien spaceship, says this Harvard astronomer

You may have heard about Oumuamua, a mysterious object. It is the first intersteller object spotted in our solar system, which would be mysterious by itself. But it's going to be 70,000 miles per hour, much faster than an asteroid should. In fact, when it slingshotted around the sun, it sped up.

"There was something about the motion and the gravitational forces of the Sun and planets," said Marco Micheli, a European Space Agency scientist, in a press statement.

Oumuamua is moving towards the Internet, but it is possible to get to know the internet pretty excited. Enter Dr. Avi Loeb, the Harvard astronomer who is REALLY into aliens.

Loeb thinks this object could be an alien spaceship. According to his theory, the object is moving so fast because of intelligent life is propelling it with, say, rockets.

"Alternatively, it is possible that Oumuamua may have a fully operational probes the intention of the environment by an alien civilization," write Loeb and his coauthor in a paper. "This discrepancy is obviously solved if 'Oumuamua does not follow a random trajectory but is rather a targeted probe. "

Loeb has a good deal over the years, and he's pretty much always proposing the possibility of aliens. He's suggested that aliens could star-powered spaceships and mused about how aliens could survive apocalypses.

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"It seems like aliens are a theme for you," I told him once. "Something new happens, and you're the guy who's like, 'But wait, what if it's aliens.' Why is that? " His response really made me think at the time. Now that I'm talking about it, I think it's worth reprinting:

I'm not afraid to consider possibilities, to be open-minded. Most scientists, especially people at my stature, are worried about their reputation. They are worried about their image, and they prefer to maintain a conservative approach. Throughout their career, most of the time, they are more likely to be accepted than others.

My approach is quite different. I'm really interested in the truth. In seeking the truth, you explore all possibilities, and you rule out some.

To me, it's clear that it's possible – it's quite likely – that primitive life exists out there, and I would say smart as well. For me, it seems to be a very important topic for you to explore the options

To me, it's a very dangerous development, to think that authority establishes the truth. There is a truth about it, and the number of people who believe in it is irrelevant.

Many times, life is just a self-fulfilling prophecy. You tell yourself, 'No, I do not want to pursue that because chances are small that it will be a successful path.' But then, obviously, if you do not follow that path, it'll never be successful. In many of those instances, you can get up barriers, and you never break out of the path that everyone else takes. But if you allow yourself to take some side paths, then you might discover new things every now and then. And that's the fun.