Oumuamua

[Tiki Tom]

Loungers: dawn your tinfoil fedoras!

Have to say one of my favorite books is “Rendezvous with Rama” by Arthur C. Clarke and that immediately came to mind when this was first reported.

How cool would it be to discover that Oumuamua (Hawaiian for “first messenger”) is in fact a deep space intergalactic probe from a distant galaxy?

And it’s not just me. A Harvard astrophysicist is one of the proponents of taking a closer look.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/...galactic-driftwood-seti-tunes-in-to-oumuamua/

Re: Rendezvous with Rama:

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

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

"Rendezvous With Rama" was my first thought as well. That's a really strange shape for random space junk.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Could this be when it came in?

 

[Tiki Tom]

Could this be when it came in?

Reminds me of the famous "wow! signal" that was picked-up back in the 70s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal

There seems to be a growing consensus that it's just a matter of time until signs of life in the distant universe are discovered. Whether it will be intelligent life is another question. And the difficulty of interstellar travel is the primary argument against UFOs being "alien" in nature. Counter arguments are also thoughtful and worth consideration.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

It's just a chip off the old block.
It's pretty ironic that man is always searching for signs of extraterrestrial life yet feels compelled to destroy any terrestrial life it comes into contact with...............if I was an alien I'd give this planet a very wide berth......at least for the time being.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

There seems to be a growing consensus that it's just a matter of time until signs of life in the distant universe are discovered. Whether it will be intelligent life is another question.

Given our limited technology, any E.T.'s would have to be as equally intelligent as us for us to be able to 'discover' them.............I doubt we will ever be able to detect simple life forms in other galaxies far, far away & as for more advanced life forms, the fact that they haven't tried to contact us is a sign that they might exist.

 

[scotrace]

When you consider the sheer number -- billions -- of stars out there, just in our galaxy, and then there are billions of galaxies, and then whatever beyond that, and most of those stars have some kind of planetary system surrounding them, that makes for an unfathomable number of planets holding the potential for every possible, if unimaginable, iteration of life in some form.
It's just not possible, to my thinking anyway, that we're the only ones present in all that. Ridiculous hubris.
I also think the distances are so vast as to intentionally make it impossible for our paths to cross, impossible to ever meet. We're so far from everything else because we aren't supposed to be influenced by or cross paths with whatever else is happening. Each "world" is its own thing. Whatever we are here to do, collectively and individually, we're here to do within the constraints, physical laws, and limits of our own particular place in the universe.
It's probably just a big ol' pointy rock. The fact that we've not recorded seeing anything like it doesn't make it unique. If all of time since the beginning of earth were a football field, man would occupy the width of one of those small pointy Christmas tree bulbs in the timeline. And our own civilization, the time from which we began to plant crops, speak, etc., would be the width of the bulb's filament, way down at the opposite goal line. Millions of such pointy rocks have to have whizzed by earth. We're just now awake enough to notice. "This has never happened before!" is silly.
It's still fun to think it might be more than just a big ol' pointy rock.

 

[scottyrocks]

It is indeed a good thing that other inhabited worlds are so far away because even the thought of some of them coming here is so frightening to most that if it did occur would send our little globe into a panic from which we might not recover. It would also irrevocably change the way many people think about everything.

Of course, Hollywood doesn't ever help. haha

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Quite a few times my career has put me in a position to see & observe events that have convinced me there is technology out there that the common man has no knowledge of. Whether it is the US military or the military of other countries on earth with this technology, I'm not sure but that is what I commonly think of first. Only then do I get around to thinking about whether "they're here" or not.

As far as distances to other possible inhabited planets I would be more of a believer in things like string theory or parallel universes going on right here simultaneously. Whatever it is has been going on for a very long time & is not a recent phenomenon.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Captain, we are being scanned..."

 

[scottyrocks]

 

[Tiki Tom]

Nice artwork! Here's a photograph taken in the mid-1980s by (I believe) a police officer. It is of the Hudson River UFO that was supposedly witnessed by at least 500 people. It was said to be gigantic in size and slowly moving along the valley. Debunkers say it was probably small airplanes flying in formation. Believers say "nonsense. People know small planes when they see them."


Regrettably, after decades of intense interest in UFOs, this is comparable to the best evidence out there.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Regrettably, after decades of intense interest in UFOs, this is comparable to the best evidence out there.

There was the March 2000 sighting reported by ~5 different Illinois & Missouri Law Enforcement agencies/officers around Scott AFB, Belleville IL, SE of St. Louis, MO. I would consider the witnesses exemplary.

It's hard to have an informed discussion without all the ridicule.

 

[scottyrocks]

That's a painting from the movie Battleship (2012).

I liked it for a number of reasons, even if it got panned.

 

[Tiki Tom]

There was the March 2000 sighting reported by ~5 different Illinois & Missouri Law Enforcement agencies/officers around Scott AFB, Belleville IL, SE of St. Louis, MO. I would consider the witnesses exemplary.

It's hard to have an informed discussion without all the ridicule.

I vaguely recall the Illinois/Missouri incident. I always give an extra bit of credence to witnesses who are law enforcement officers, pilots, or other people who don't normally jump to conclusions. I don't usually buy UFO books (mostly garbage), but I did purchase "UFOS: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials go on the Record" by Leslie Kean. Very journalistic in its approach and received positive reviews in the mainstream press. The book certainly makes you wonder. The professionals that she interviewed are not crackpots.

The "Phoenix Lights" episode is another one that captures my interest. Hard to believe it was all about military flares.

Re: the ridicule. It's unfortunate, but considering that there is zero generally accepted hard evidence and also that the subject attracts a lot of con men, hoaxers, fabulists, and opportunists, I guess it is understandable. But it makes it difficult to seriously discuss those few cases that, for whatever reason, cannot lightly be dismissed.

Another scientific oddity that is in a similar vein to Oumuamua is the phenomenon of Fast Radio Bursts. They are very strange and science hasn't figured out what they might be. Almost as a default, people will ridicule the SETI aspect. But, really, no one knows and it is one of a range of legitimate possibilities.

Oumuamua is probably just a strangely shaped rock whizzing between galaxies, but even that raises questions... and ---as already noted--- space professionals with good credentials have taken the idea that it might be some sort of probe seriously enough to devote resources for ten hours of high tech listening time. Speaking of which, I hope we see a news story relatively soon that closes the circle on this one, whether it is "silence" or "aliens!", I'd still like to know what they find out.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Has it never occured to anyone that beings from outer space, who supposedly, have the technology to travel thousands, if not millions of light years across the universe, decorate their vessels with something so primitive ( & dare I say, so human ) as light bulbs & by an uncanny coincidence, the pretty colors are always within the spectrum known to human earthlings. As for flying saucers, it's highly unlikely such advanced life/energy forms would use such an unpractical shaped craft to travel such long distances in...........that's the problem with human imagination, it's limited by it's own limitations.

 

[Tiki Tom]

It is absolutely correct that, throughout history, the standard response to offbeat ideas about the universe and our place in it has usually been “Don't be silly. I know how the universe is set up, and that doesn’t fit with how things work.”

And then, of course, the model changes. (“What? Who? Einstein! That patent clerk? You gotta be kidding!)

Right now we know that Time, Space, and Gravity are all part of the same fabric.

https://www.amazon.de/Reality-Not-What-Seems-Journey/dp/0141983213

We also know that this fabric can theoretically be manipulated. Scientists have recently detected ripples in the fabric of space and time.

https://www.space.com/38471-gravitational-waves-neutron-star-crashes-discovery-explained.html

Einstein himself had theorized that different ends of the fabric could be brought together (and Einstein has had a pretty good batting average so far.)

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

All of this has been taken even farther by theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre who theorized a way of traveling faster than the speed of light by conceptualizing an “engine” that can traverse distances by contracting space in front of it and expanding space behind it.

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

What!? Traveling faster than the speed of light? Apparently that too is now deemed at least theoretically possible. Particles that are light years apart can communicate faster than the speed of light. What gives?

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/02/spooky-action-at-a-distance/516201/

Okay, yes, all this gobbledygook is meaningless because humanity is incapable of doing all the calculations necessary to harness these freaky aspects of nature in any meaningful way. But wait! Apparently we are on the brink of developing quantum computers and artificial intelligence that will exponentially increase our capacity for problem solving.

https://www.amore.ng/ai-likely-to-destroy-humans-says-the-man-whos-building-electric-cars/

Ooops. That last link is for a “Terminator” thread.

So, what does all this have to do with UFOs and Alien Deep Space Probes?

If there is a civilization out there that is a couple of thousand years more advanced than us (no need to say millions of years), then maybe they’ve been able to tackle some of these seemingly “technical” problems.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually unsure, very careful, or even agnostic about whether or not it is possible that advanced civilizations have mastered space travel. But I am equally careful not to completely pooh-pooh the possibility (lest some convincing evidence pops up in the next 20 years.) Einstein’s notion that time elapses differently in different locations was once also thought of as crazy.

And we haven't even talked about the possibility of alternate universes yet.

You are right about one thing, though. Humanity has no imagination.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't see any reason to think alien visitation is impossible, and I've always kind of had the feeling that the way so many people are so quick to insist it is impossible is little more than whistling in the dark. I think it makes perfect sense that some advanced civilization, monitoriing our broadcasts thru space and/or time, might decide that we're a species that needs to be slapped around a bit and made to understand its proper place.

 

[scottyrocks]

It could be something like this:

The Doomsday Burrito.

 

[sheeplady]

Isn't there some sort of quote like:

"It's arrogant to believe that we're the only intelligent life in the universe.

It's equally arrogant to believe that we're so important in the universe that other intelligent life would contact us."

I swear I read something like that once, but google isn't helping me.