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Oumuamua: Asteroid that flew past Earth could have been a spacecraft, Harvard scientists suggest

WCH said:
Too bad we didn't have time to send a probe or for that matter, snag it. No doubt whatever info gathered, it would be groundbreaking.
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Snag it? It was up to a kilometer long. It already takes months and billions of what ever currency to set up any rocket launch from Earth. "Armageddon" is grotesquely unrealistic.

800px-Comet_20171025-16_gif.gif

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ʻOumuamua

ʻOumuamua (/oʊˌmuːəˈmuːə/ (About this sound listen)) is the first interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System. Formally designated 1I/2017 U1, it was discovered by Robert Weryk using the Pan-STARRS telescope at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, on 19 October 2017, 40 days after it passed its closest point to the Sun. When first seen, it was about 33,000,000 km (21,000,000 mi; 0.22 AU) from Earth (about 85 times as far away as the Moon), and already heading away from the Sun.
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CEngelbrecht said:
Snag it? It was up to a kilometer long. It already takes months and billions of what ever currency to set up any rocket launch from Earth. "Armageddon" is grotesquely unrealistic.

800px-Comet_20171025-16_gif.gif

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ʻOumuamua

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Several more extensive articles form space.com

https://www.space.com/42352-oumuamua-interstellar-object-alien-light-sail.html

If we figure out how to accelerate tiny, sail-equipped robotic probes to tremendous speeds using lasers, we could eventually launch a mission to 'Oumuamua, Loeb said. Projects such as Breakthrough Starshot aim to launch such craft in the next few decades. (Loeb chairs Breakthrough Starshot's advisory board.)
 
They told me that they would not return me to Earth unless I kept my big fat mouth shut about them...
 
The closest parallel in science fiction is probably Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark, first published in 1973.

Set in the 2130s, the story involves a 50-kilometre (31 mi) cylindrical alien starship that enters the Solar System. The story is told from the point of view of a group of human explorers who intercept the ship in an attempt to unlock its mysteries . . .

The "Rama" of the title is an alien starship, initially mistaken for an asteroid . . . It is detected by astronomers in the year 2131 while it is still outside the orbit of Jupiter. Its speed (100,000 km/h) and the angle of its trajectory clearly indicate it is not on a long orbit around the sun, but comes from interstellar space. The astronomers' interest is further piqued when they realize the asteroid has an extremely rapid rotation period of 4 minutes and is exceptionally large. It is named Rama after the Hindu god, and an unmanned space probe dubbed Sita is launched from the Mars moon Phobos to intercept and photograph it. The resulting images reveal that Rama is a perfect cylinder . . .

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama
 
Follow-up:

Oumuamua: Scientist who suggested strange space rock could be alien spacecraft speaks out | The Independent

Astronomer Avi Loeb kicked off international intrigue when he co-authored a paper that suggested Oumuamua, which flew past Earth last year, could have been a probe sent by aliens from deep in space to survey Earth. The research explored the unexpected movement of the rock and suggested that it could be a "lightsail", which was sent intentionally by aliens to investigate Earth.

But even if the rock has a natural origin then it is incredibly strange, Professor Loeb told the Today programme. It has a strange shape, doesn't show the characteristics usually observed in comets and asteroids, and is flying through space in a way that scientists wouldn't expect it to, he said.
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Deuce said:
It could be Jesus riding a giant space snake.
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Jesus of Nazareth has been dead for 2,000 years.

Deuce said:
The object is flying through space precisely as expected.
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Except that it isn't.

Deuce said:
Its trajectory is purely momentum and gravity. It is not generating thrust of any sort.
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https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...ock-proof-probe-latest-avi-loeb-a8625606.html
"Most intriguingly it's moving on a trajectory that implies an extra push in addition to the gravitational force from the sun," he said. "There seems to be another force acting on it."
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Alien spaceships always tumble end over end.
 
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