Avi Loeb is no stranger to controversy. The prolific Harvard University astrophysicist has produced pioneering and provocative research on black holes, gamma-ray bursts, the early universe and other standard topics of his field. But for more than a decade he has also courted a more contentious subject—namely, space aliens, including how to find them. Until relatively recently, Loeb’s most high-profile work in that regard was his involvement with Breakthrough Starshot, a project funded by Silicon Valley billionaire Yuri Milner to send laser-boosted, gossamer-thin mirrorlike spacecraft called “light sails” on high-speed voyages to nearby stars. All that began to change in late 2017, however, when astronomers around the world scrambled to study an enigmatic interstellar visitor—the first ever seen—that briefly came within range of their telescopes.

The object’s discoverers dubbed it ‘Oumuamua—a Hawaiian term that roughly translates to “scout.” The unavoidably cursory examinations of this celestial passerby showed it had several properties that defied easy natural explanation. ‘Oumuamua’s apparent shape—which was like a 100-meter-long cigar or pancake—did not closely resemble any known asteroid or comet. Neither did its brightness, which revealed ‘Oumuamua was at least 10 times more reflective than one of our solar system’s typical space rocks—shiny enough to suggest the gleam of burnished metal. Most strangely, as it zoomed off after swooping by the sun, the object sped up faster than could be explained by our star’s waning gravitational grip alone. Run-of-the-mill comets can exhibit similar accelerations because of the rocketlike effect of evaporating gases jetting from their sunlight-warmed icy surfaces. But no signs of such jets were seen around ‘Oumuamua.

To Loeb, the most plausible explanation was as obvious as it was sensational: taken together with its possibly pancakelike shape and high reflectivity, ‘Oumuamua’s anomalous acceleration made perfect sense if the object was in fact a light sail—perhaps a derelict from some long-expired galactic culture. Primed by years spent pondering how we might someday find evidence of cosmic civilizations in the sky’s depths, he became increasingly convinced that, with ‘Oumuamua, the evidence had instead found us. In late 2018 Loeb and his co-author Shmuel Bialy, a Harvard postdoctoral fellow, published a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters arguing that ‘Oumuamua had been nothing less than humanity’s first contact with an artifact of extraterrestrial intelligence.

The paper has been a smash hit with journalists but has fallen flat with most of Loeb’s astrobiology-focused peers, who insist that, while strange, ‘Oumuamua’s properties still place it well within the realm of natural phenomena. To claim otherwise, Loeb’s critics say, is cavalier at best and destructive at worst for the long struggle to remove the stigma of credulous UFO and alien-abduction reports from what should unquestionably be a legitimate field of scientific inquiry.

The observations suggest this unusual object had been wandering through the Milky Way, unattached to any star system, for hundreds of millions of years before its chance encounter with our star system.

“For decades we’ve theorized that such interstellar objects are out there, and now―for the first time―we have direct evidence they exist,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, in November 2017.

Immediately after its discovery, telescopes around the world, including ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, were called into action to measure the object’s orbit, brightness and color. Urgency for viewing from ground-based telescopes was vital to get the best data.

Oumuamua (First Contact Album Version)

Welsh musician and composer. If you like my stuff, please like, repost / share. And follow for more tunes

Government is not your friend




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A Musical Journey of FlexHead
Best known as a local Northern California Funk Band, FlexHead and their sound have developed and grown in popularity since 2015. Influenced by the community, culture, and sounds of their hometown, they perform music that speaks to fans across the musical spectrum. Their signature style has become synonymous with a diverse collection of melodies and compositions. This Funk Band is on the rise, and nothing can stop them from achieving the success they work so hard for. 

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My dreams are lucid, life-like and often filled with music. Sometimes, when I wake, I can remember the music from my dreams and try to recreate some of it.

Here to prepare you for the Future!  The fabric of our reality can fundamentally change by the day.  Visit the Quantum Boy Scout on Instagram, YouTube, and more to find those classic songs from your alternate past, present, and future now!

Amateur media composer & producer. Ambient, electronic, cinematic - I love '80s synths, piano, soundscapes, orchestral, and experimental. I work as an editor/photographer/creative. I love listening to new music and discovering new artists and I would love to collaborate with independent/new filmmakers on projects. My debut album Landing Party (12 tracks) is out now on Apple Music/YouTube etc, search 'Editor Cole', plus Bandcamp. Link: https://editorcole.bandcamp.com/album/landing-party

Oumuamua (First Contact Album Version)

Marc Dauncey