Oumuamua interstellar object traveling through space shaped like a big piece of wood.

1I/’Oumuamua Interstellar Object | UFOZen

Here’s the full scoop on ʻOumuamua, the first known interstellar object detected in our solar system. It’s one of the most intriguing space mysteries we’ve ever come across, and it kicked off a firestorm of scientific debate—including the now-famous alien theory by Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb.

There were some anomalies about this object that gave Dr. Loeb the idea that the possibility exists that this is an alien craft or some sort of technology like an alien probe.

🧱 What is ʻOumuamua?

  • Name – ʻOumuamua (Hawaiian for “a scout” or “messenger from afar arriving first”)
  • Official designation – 1I/ʻOumuamua
  • Type – Interstellar object (not from our solar system)
  • First detected – October 19, 2017, by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawaii
  • Entered solar system – Likely around January 2015, near the orbit of Neptune
  • Closest approach to Earth – October 14, 2017 (about 24 million km away)
  • Left solar system – It’s on its way out, and was last observed in early 2018. It’s now too far and faint to track.

📏 Size, Shape, and Motion

  • Length estimate – Around 100–400 meters (some estimates go up to 800 m)
  • Thickness – Roughly 6 to 10 times thinner than its length, possibly even more
  • Shape – Extremely elongated (cigar-like or pancake-like, depending on the model)
  • Speed – About 87.7 km/s relative to the Sun
  • Trajectory – Hyperbolic path — meaning it’s not gravitationally bound to the Sun

This thing came from another star system, zipped past the Sun, and is now gone for good.

🧊 Not a Comet? Not an Asteroid?

Initially, it was thought to be:

  1. A comet, but it had no visible tail and showed no signs of outgassing (no water vapor, carbon compounds, etc.).
  2. Then maybe an asteroid, but the non-gravitational acceleration (tiny changes in speed not explained by gravity alone) didn’t fit.
  3. So what the hell was it?

This is where things split into camps…

🧠 Dr. Avi Loeb’s Alien Hypothesis

Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb made headlines when he proposed in 2018 that ʻOumuamua might be an alien artifact, possibly a light sail or probe from an extraterrestrial civilization.

Loeb’s Arguments:

  • ʻOumuamua accelerated slightly away from the Sun — too small to be from solar radiation pressure alone if it were a rock.
  • No coma (tail) = not behaving like a comet.
  • It was flatter and thinner than any natural object we’ve seen.
  • Entered at a weird trajectory—not aligned with the typical galactic disk, like a targeted flyby.
  • Loeb speculates it may have been a defunct light sail—like a piece of alien tech drifting through space.

He wrote a whole book about it—“Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” (2021).

He says most of the astronomy community dismissed it too quickly and that science should stay open-minded, especially when evidence doesn’t match standard explanations.

🧪 What Do Other Astronomers Say?

Most mainstream astronomers strongly disagree with the alien hypothesis. Their takes include:

Karen Meech (University of Hawaii)

  • Led the team that discovered ʻOumuamua
  • Believes it’s a natural object, maybe a fragment from a disrupted planetesimal
  • Its tumbling rotation (non-principal axis spin) was unusual but not impossible

Alan Jackson (University of Toronto)

  • Suggests ʻOumuamua could be a fragment of a Pluto-like exoplanet, made of nitrogen ice
  • The acceleration might come from sublimating nitrogen gas, invisible from Earth

Darryl Seligman and Gregory Laughlin (Yale)

  • Proposed it was a hydrogen ice iceberg
  • That model got largely debunked (hydrogen wouldn’t survive the trip through interstellar space)

NASA’s Verdict

  • NASA calls it a natural object, probably an interstellar comet, possibly covered in a layer of organic molecules that hid any outgassing
  • They argue the acceleration could be from outgassing we couldn’t detect with Earth-based telescopes

🖼️ Any Photos?

No high-resolution photos exist.
Why?

  • ʻOumuamua was already on its way out when it was detected
  • It’s tiny and dim
  • Moved fast across the sky — made tracking difficult
  • Observations lasted only 11 days before it was too far and faint

We only got light curves (brightness patterns) which told us about its shape and spin.

No telescope could lock on and image it in detail. We missed our chance.

🌌 Where Is It Now?

ʻOumuamua is flying out of the solar system forever, heading toward the constellation Pegasus.

It’s now too far to see even with powerful telescopes. It’s expected to travel through interstellar space indefinitely.

🚀 What’s Next?

Because of ʻOumuamua, astronomers have started taking interstellar visitors much more seriously. In fact:

  • 2I/Borisov was detected in 2019 – another interstellar object, this one is clearly a comet
  • The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA have discussed potential missions to intercept future interstellar objects
  • A proposed project called Project Lyra is a theoretical mission to catch up to ʻOumuamua with a fast spacecraft, but it would need to launch yesterday, and even then, it’s unlikely

🔥 Bottom Line

  • ʻOumuamua is real
  • It came from outside our solar system
  • It didn’t behave like anything we’ve seen before
  • We still don’t know exactly what it was
  • Harvard Physicist, Avi Loeb says we should be open to alien tech. Here is his latest statement on a new interstellar object 3I/ATLAS.
  • Most scientists say it’s weird, but probably natural
  • We have no photos, just brightness curves and trajectory data

But it changed the game. We now know there are interstellar visitors out there. And next time, we’ll be watching.