Comments on: Mysterious Space Object Has High Chance of Harboring Alien Intelligent Life Form

By: Christopher Winter

Christopher Winter — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 21:18:09 +0000

In reply to ppnl. Paraphrasing a passage on Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End: "...from the Overlord's description, Jan built up a picture of an enormous being living among the asteroid rubble of a distant solar system, depending for food on the range and resolving power of a single, giant eye... The Overlords had brought a full-sized whale from Earth, but they had drawn the line at this."

By: Bernard J.

Bernard J. — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 03:44:31 +0000

It must be the season for little green men:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ufo-videos-pentagon-program-luis-elizondo/

If only they could cancel out the orange ones…

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 23:14:54 +0000

It has come to my attention that the link above, to "any of the books in this series," mysteriously sent readers to a DVD of Children of a Lesser God. Perhaps that applies here, I do not know. What I meant was any of the books in THIS series.

By: Lionel A

Lionel A — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 12:17:24 +0000

It is clearly a probe.

Probiotic, maybe, even.

Largest Galaxy/Mars Bar in the solar system?

TNOOC Tongue now out of cheek, lick — lick.

By: ppnl

ppnl — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 23:42:33 +0000

All alien probes are elongated for obvious reasons. The only thing that scares me is the size of the thing the aliens are intending to probe…

By: SteveP

SteveP — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 18:14:09 +0000

PBS now reports that it has an organic surface coating. Largest Galaxy/Mars Bar in the solar system?

By: Lionel A

Lionel A — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 16:47:16 +0000

Of course it could be a disc and is being seen edge on. TIC.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Sun, 17 Dec 2017 03:14:12 +0000

In reply to Christopher Winter. I think you've nailed it. It is clearly a probe.

By: Christopher Winter

Christopher Winter — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 23:59:52 +0000

If you wanted to conduct covert surveillance of a distant solar system, with the goal of determining whether a technical civilization existed there — and were very patient — one way to do it would be to send an apparently natural body with various sorts of sensors built into it through said system.

The probe could look like any old rock, which is to say having a generally lumpy roundness as opposed to an elongated shape, like a cigar. It would simply drift through the system, recording data on signals picked up, compositions of atmospheres, etc. Of course it would not emit any signals itself, nor do any maneuvering.

On the other hand, a roughly cigar-shaped body might be a calculated gamble, intended to draw closer inspection and thus obtain more data on the space-travel capabilities, if any, of the civilization. The risk would be that a ship might make actual contact with the probe, or at least get close enough to observe its artificial components. This could be mitigated by having the probe travel at high speed.

Now, to be clear, I don’t think Oumuamua is such a probe. Nothing I know of precludes a natural rock having its shape.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 17:41:06 +0000

In reply to David Evans. It may have gone into the tumbling mode in order to confuse us.