Scott Underwood: Was Oumuamua more than a huge space rock?



Scott Underwood, The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
Mon, January 31, 2022

Jan. 31—In October 2016, a reddish cigar-shaped rock, a quarter-mile across and as long as two miles, tumbled through our solar system.

The rock, dubbed "Oumuamua" (Hawaiian for "scout") by astronomers, came from the direction of the star Vega and had passed closest to the sun in September before it was discovered by telescope from Maui.

Such objects traverse our heavens periodically, but this one was different. It surprised scientists with its jerking motions as it left the solar system, prompting speculation that it was a strange comet, propelled perhaps by evaporating gases on its surface.

But astronomers detected no evidence of gases on Oumuamua.

A year after Oumuamua left our solar system, Avi Loeb, chairman of Harvard's astronomy department, co-published a paper in the widely respected Astrophysical Journal of Letters. Loeb argued that Oumuamua might have been evidence of alien technology.

The paper raised eyebrows and elicited cynicism from many of Loeb's colleagues, but he has persisted.

Recently, Loeb continued to push his theory, publishing a new book, "Extraterrestrial," in which he pleads for humanity to keep an open mind about the possibility of intelligent life among the stars.

"Are we, both scientists and lay people, ready? Is human civilization ready to confront what follows our accepting the plausible conclusion, arrived at through evidence-backed hypotheses, that terrestrial life isn't unique and perhaps not even particularly impressive?" Loeb asks in the book's introduction.

"I fear the answer is no, and that prevailing prejudice is a cause for concern."

To drive home his point, Loeb points to the 17th century, when church officials refused to look into Galileo's telescope, fearing that they'd see evidence contrary to their view of man, the world and God.

Loeb's point is salient. If we don't believe that something could exist, we're not likely to see it. On the other hand, believing without healthy cynicism can cause us to imagine something that doesn't exist.

In June 2021, just after a U.S. intelligence report about UFOs was released, the Pew Research Center published a survey showing that 65% of Americans believe it's likely that intelligent life exists beyond Earth. Just over half of respondents said that UFOs reported by members of the military are definitely or probably evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.

I doubt that UFOs come from outer space, but the fruits of scientific exploration — particularly the discovery of Earthlike planets in other solar systems — increasingly point to the overwhelming likelihood that intelligent life is scattered across the universe.

It would also seem highly probable that intelligent life that is much different than ours and doesn't require Earthlike conditions exists out there, as well.

Who's to say whether Oumuamua might have been an alien vessel? Like Loeb, I prefer to ponder that it might have been.

Editor Scott Underwood's column is published Mondays in The Herald Bulletin. Contact him at scott.underwood@heraldbulletin.com