MIAMI – An object that recently passed by Earth could actually be a broken spacecraft from an alien civilization according to multiple professors.
First seen in October, the comet-like Oumuamua is the first object observed from the planet that is from outside the solar system.
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The Daily Mail reports Dr. Jason Wright of Penn State University believes Oumuamua is traveling in such an odd way that the spacecraft theory may be reality.
The cigar-shaped Oumuamua flew by the planet in November. But instead of moving in similar fashion as other space material, astronomers say the quarter of a mile long comet appears to be tumbling.
'Such derelict craft would, if they are not travelling so fast that they escape the Galaxy, eventually 'thermalize' with the stars and end up drifting around like any other interstellar comet or asteroid," writes Wright.
'In fact, since they (presumably) no longer have attitude control, one would expect that they would eventually begin to tumble, and if they are very rigid that tumbling might distinguish them from ordinary interstellar asteroids… and in fact, just because their propulsion is broken doesn't mean that their radio transmitters would be broken.'
Meanwhile, Harvard astrophysics professor Avi Loeb has his own alien spacecraft theory according to Express.
"Perhaps the aliens have a mothership that travels fast and releases baby spacecrafts that freely fall into planetary system on a reconnaissance mission." said Loeb.
"The more I study this object, the more unusual it appears, making me wonder whether it might be an artificially made probe which was sent by an alien civilization.”