It would appear that one man’s rock is another alien’s outdated cellphone.
Avi Loeb, an Israeli-American theoretical physicist and professor at Harvard University, theorizes in his upcoming book “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) that a rock that entered our solar system in September 2017 might have actually been old alien technology.
The New York Post reports that the rock in question was deemed ‘Oumuamua (meaning “scout” in Hawaiian), and caused quite a stir within scientific groups.
Not only was ‘Oumuamua the first interstellar object ever found within Earth’s solar system, but its trajectory indicated its movement was not contingent upon the sun’s gravitational pull. In fact, ‘Oumuamua appeared to be driven by a force other than our central star’s, even accelerating away from the sun at one point.
Additionally, the object had a cigar-like shape never before seen in other asteroids or comets, and was observed by some to possibly be comprised of metal.
All these factors, according to Business Insider, led Loeb to come to the conclusion that ‘Oumuamua wasn’t an oddly shaped asteroid but alien junk thrown out by some far-off extraterrestrial civilization.
“What would happen if a caveman saw a cellphone?” Loeb asks the Post. “He’s seen rocks all his life, and he would have thought it was just a shiny rock.”
“If we are not alone, are we the smartest kids on the block?” he continues. “If there was a species that eliminated itself through war or changing the climate, we can get our act together and behave better. Instead, we are wasting a lot of resources on Earth fighting each other and other negative things that are a big waste.”
Avi Loeb’s “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” will be available for purchase starting Jan. 26.
