Is This Interstellar Asteroid Proof of Alien Life? Don’t Bet on It, Says Nasa Physicist
HONOLULU — The scientific world was set ablaze this week with the discovery of our solar system’s first known interstellar visitor. Astronomers at Hawaii’s Haleakalā Observatory detected the tumbling, cigar-shaped rock, now named ʻOumuamua, on Thursday, coming from the direction of the constellation Lyra.
stresses, however, that the likelihood of intelligent origin is minuscule: “It’s always disappointing to say, because we all — astronomers, scientists, the public — want it to be true. But, as it stands, everything points to ʻOumuamua being a perfectly natural formation. Which, if you ask me, might be even more exciting. How many more of these things are there?”