Fans of sci-fi movies and people who believe in the existence of life beyond Earth claim that aliens may have visited humans several times. Apart from some controversial videos and images of huge flying saucers, there is no solid evidence to prove such claims. But a Harvard professor said human were visited by an object in 2017. It was a piece of alien technology that many people misunderstood as just another space rock.
Avi Loeb is a Harvard astronomer and author of an upcoming book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, in which he lays out his theory about a peculiar-shaped object that entered our solar system a few years ago.
The interstellar object, known as "Oumuamua", was first observed in 2017 through the Pan-STARRS telescope at Hawaii's Haleakala Observatory. Astronomers determined that it had passed through the ecliptic plane on September 6 from the direction of Vega, the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. According to Loeb's book, which is set to hit shelves on January 26 this year, Oumuamua shot past Earth before "moving swiftly toward the constellation Pegasus and the blackness beyond" on October 7, 2017.
While some scientists claim that Oumuamua—pronounced Oh-mooah-mooah—believed to be the first interstellar object detected in the solar system, was simply another comet, Loeb has dismissed that assumption. The theoretical physicist who is the chairman of Harvard University's astronomy department said: "What would happen if a caveman saw a cellphone? He's seen rocks all his life, and he would have thought it was just a shiny rock."
Evidence of Alien Technology
The Harvard scientist said that there are two big details that suggest Oumuamua was not just space rock, but rather a piece of alien technology. Loeb wrote with his colleague Shmuel Bialy in Astrophysical Journal Letters in November 2018: "Considering an artificial origin, one possibility is that Oumuamua is a light sail, floating in interstellar space as a debris from an advanced technological equipment."
As scientists concluded that Oumuamua was at least five to ten times longer than it was wide, shaped like of a cigar, Loeb argues that such shape is not typical for a natural space object. But according to him the biggest detail which supports his theory is Oumuamua's movement. "The excess push away from the sun, that was the thing that broke the camel's back," said the theoretical physicist.
As per Loeb, the gravitational force of the sun would cause a natural space object to move faster as it approaches, and eventually push it back, causing the object to move slower as it moves away. But this did not happen to Oumuamua, said the Harvard expert. This interstellar object accelerated "slightly, but to a highly statistically significant extent" as it moved further away.
"If we are not alone, are we the smartest kids on the block? If there was a species that eliminated itself through war or changing the climate, we can get our act together and behave better. Instead, we are wasting a lot of resources on Earth fighting each other and other negative things that are a big waste,"said the Harvard professor.
