Natural phenomenon or alien probe? ‘Cigar shaped’ UFO spotted in solar system
Last Update: June 20, 2018 at 11:47 am
SOURCE: express.co.uk
Dec. 12, 2017
STEPHEN Hawking is leading an investigation into whether a cigar-shaped object visiting our solar system from interstellar space is from an “alien civilisation”, it has been revealed.
The first mysterious object to reach our solar system was originally thought to be a comet or an asteroid from within the system.
But, scientists realised it was neither and came from interstellar space.
Now, a scientific body led by Stephen Hawking is trying to decipher whether the “cigar-shaped” object is an alien probe or a previously unseen natural phenomenon.
Professor of astrophysics at Harvard University Avi Loeb said: “Perhaps the aliens have a mothership that travels fast and releases baby spacecrafts that freely fall into planetary system on a reconnaissance mission.
“If this object is natural in origin, there should be many more like it in the solar system… and even if most of them are natural, perhaps one of them will be found to be of artificial origin, some space device or junk from an alien civilisation.
“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 civilisation.”
The object’s official name is A/2017 UI but has been dubbed “Oumuamua”, which loosely means “a messenger that reaches from the distant past” in Hawaiian.
It was discovered by the Pan-Starrs project at the University of Hawaii in October.
A £75 million programme that searches for evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth called Breakthrough Listen, led by Stephen Hawking, is attempting to detect evidence of alien technology transmitting from the object.
Andrew Siemion, research centre director at the Search for Extraterrestrial Life (Seti)- which works for Breakthrough – said it would begin a ten-hour observation tomorrow for specific signs of alien technology.
It will search on the electromagnetic spectrum using the Green Bank telescope in West Virginia.
Dr Siemion said: “It’s like a radio station you tune into with your car stereo.