Mysterious Interstellar Object Oumuamua Not an Alien Probe, Says Scientist Who Discovered It

This artist’s impression shows the first interstellar asteroid: `Oumuamua. This unique object was discovered on 19 October 2017 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawai`i. Subsequent observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile and other observatories around the world show that it was travelling through space for millions of years before its chance encounter with our star system. European Southern Observatory/M. Kornmesser

The physicist and astronomer who discovered the Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever discovered in the solar system, said a theory that the object is “a lightsail of artificial origin” is wild speculation.

A study from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics released this month suggested the 1,300-foot-long object might be a “lightsail.”