Oumuamua, alien technology and Occam’s razor

(ORDO NEWS) — Asteroids – common objects in our solar system . Most of them come from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but there are others that come to us from the distant Oort cloud , located far beyond the orbit of Pluto.

Also, asteroids can come to us from outside the solar system, overcoming trillions and trillions of kilometers of interstellar space.

Most astronomers believe that ‘Oumuamua is an asteroid belonging to the last group of “interstellar guests”. However, one famous scientist suggests that ‘Oumuamua is a probe of an extraterrestrial civilization.

‘Oumuamua – interstellar wanderer

‘Oumuamua is a cigar-shaped object about 180 meters long and about 30 meters wide, moving at over 800 million kilometers a year, fast enough to one day leave the solar system and continue its interstellar journey.

If these characteristics make you think ‘Oumuamua is a spacecraft, then know that you are not alone. Thousands of UFO hunters around the world believe that ‘Oumuamua is likely an alien spacecraft that visited our solar system to collect scientific data. This idea differs from other alien conspiracy theories in that it is supported by Harvard University professor Avi Loeb.

Needless to say, Loeb has come under fire from the scientific community for popularizing this claim in his new book Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth. Scientists believe that it is irresponsible to attribute everything that we do not know and do not understand to the machinations of aliens.

So why Professor Loeb believes that in this case it’s different?

Loeb points out that ‘Oumuamua’s orbit and speed cannot be explained by gravity alone, suggesting some other force (alien engines?) is acting on it. It is well known that the rapid heating of asteroids causes sublimation of their subsurface matter, which in turn can cause jets of gas to push the object in one direction or another. These jets then appear as large, bright tails that are not unlike the tails of comets. ‘Oumuamua, on the other hand, does not seem to have this feature.

As Professor Loeb later points out, ‘Oumuamua can actually be propelled by an alien-designed solar sail that uses the radiation pressure of the Sun, much like a ship uses the wind to propel itself.

Occam’s razor and the simplest explanation

Of course, most scientists disagree with Loeb’s conclusions. After all, which is more likely?

• We have been visited by a camouflaged spacecraft built by highly advanced aliens;
• We were visited by an interstellar asteroid, the tail of which we simply do not see, because it is barely noticeable or is directed in the opposite direction – from the earthly observer.

As Loeb’s scientific “opponents” point out, the principle of Occam’s razor suggests that the simplest solution is often the right one. Therefore, our lack of understanding of the behavior of the object is not enough to conclude that we have alien technology.

In order to finally figure out what ‘Oumuamua is, scientists plan to implement the Lear Project . The goal is simple: launch a small probe in 2028 that will perform a series of gravitational maneuvers around the planets of the solar system, catch up with ‘Oumuamua and start collecting data in 2054.

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