I want to believe.
Scientists have been puzzling over Oumuamua ever since the mysterious space object was observed tumbling past the sun in late 2017. Given its high speed and its unusual trajectory, the reddish, stadium-sized whatever-it-is had clearly come from outside our solar system. But its flattened, elongated shape and the way it accelerated on its way through the solar system set it apart from conventional asteroids and comets.
I love how their core reasoning is: “you haven’t proven it’s NOT aliens yet.” Only the Best at Harvard™.
I love the “there’s no possible way this could be a coincidence” angle, when patently describing things that could in fact be coincidences.
I would lay odds the actual scientific paper and opinion is “there are many possible causes of this asteroid’s shape and trajectory, and we cannot rule out intelligence as a part, though significantly more observation is required before we can come to actual hypotheses. We recommend more study,” and it got reduced to the best possible soundbite.
Besides, it’s clearly the probe from Star Trek IV. It’s just early.
The STIV probe *now* is good news.
.
We still have humpback whales.
Aside from the fact that it’ll probably knock out most of the satellites currently in orbit when it broadcasts its “message”.
But of course that’s better than the alternative.
Joke’s on you: the probe is actually looking for Dodos.
Oof.
Have you read Benford’s In the Ocean of Night? Discovering a derelict alien space ship isn’t always a good thing.
Did you ever play Space Hulk? Discovering a derelict starship is rarely a good thing!