My pet theory (which is not intended to be taken too seriously) is that it is indeed a discarded light sail, and that light sail in particular was used to transport a Von Neumann probe which detached at some point after the object entered our solar system but before we first observed it. This detachment, in addition to leaving the sail tumbling, would have changed its trajectory, meaning our estimation of which direction the object originally came from is incorrect. In any case, the probe is now busy replicating, perhaps on the surface of Mercury. In a few years an army of robots will launch from there and invade the rest of the solar system!<p>Realistically, though, it's too much of a coincidence that such a probe would first arrive so soon after we gained the ability to conceive of it.
If we put half the energy we use up arguing about Oumuamua into detecting more interstellar objects we would have the data to end this debate.<p>I'm a fan of the pragmatic mathematical approach. This was the first thing detected. The chances that the first result is also any sort of outlier are very slim. Detect and track some more of these objects. I'd bet good money that Oumuamua's motion is very explainable once we get some better data from other, similar, objects.
> Asked if there is a clear leading candidate explanation for 'Oumuamua's acceleration, Loeb referred Live Science to a not-yet-released book he authored called "Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth," due for publication in January.<p>I don't know enough about the science to have an informed opinion, but it seems to me that if the main skeptic is also selling a book based in their exciting alternate theory, that's kinda a huge red flag.
I follow the <i>What da Math</i>[0] channel on YouTube to keep up with the latest news on cosmology. I highly recommend it. Very thorough and with daily updates.<p>[0] <a href="https://youtube.com/user/whatdamath" rel="nofollow">https://youtube.com/user/whatdamath</a>
The subhead is "Aliens? Or a chunk of solid hydrogen? Which idea makes less sense?"<p>The better version would be: "Journalism? Or Clickbait? Which idea makes less sense?"<p>"Scientific American" indeed.
> Asked if there is a clear leading candidate explanation for 'Oumuamua's acceleration, Loeb referred Live Science to a not-yet-released book he authored called "Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth," due for publication in January.<p>Oh this is an article without substance just to promote a book?
Summary: hydrogen iceberg theory questioned as the expected lifespan of a hydrogen iceberg is likely too short, given the distance Oumuamua would have had to travel.
OK, suppose as proposed that the H2 in an object couldn't survive the journey. What makes us certain that Oumu is interstellar? Haven't seen that convincing argument (in human-readable form).<p>Voyagers I and II are leaving the solar system; they got the kinetic energy to do that. I'm not convinced that all plausible histories for that happening within the SS without human assistance have been explored. As for the makeup of the object ... that will remain hypothetical. Maybe if we'd seen it sooner ...
This is pretty cool. I am constantly looking at current events and thinking to myself "what if aliens were watching this?". I feel like it sorta puts things in perspective for me. Seeing that this might be a possibility is sorta thrilling.
Why does it have to be a hydrogen snowball? Because no tail was detected that would have indicated a dirty methane-etc snowball? What about an stony asteroid-like object?
I suppose they need to drive traffic on “scientific”american by either flouting aliens, mysteries, or objects the size of several thousands football fields or washing machines.<p>There is nothing alien about this space object other than its geological origin.
And on far-off Earth, Dr. Carlisle Perera had as yet told no one how he had wakened from a restless sleep with the message from his subconscious still echoing in his brain: The Ramans do everything in threes.<p>We just have to hope there is at least one more