Strange 'cigar-shaped' asteroid could be ‘hostile’ ALIEN RACE that ‘risks our existence’

A STRANGE cigar-shaped asteroid that is puzzling scientists could be a spacecraft carrying aliens with “hostile intentions” that “risk our existence”, a leading astronomer has claimed.

By Joshua Nevett /

A team of scientists, led by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, are scanning the bizarre space object, dubbed Oumuamua, for signs of alien technology today.

Astronomers are baffled by the “peculiar” 1,300ft-long, 260ft-wide comet – the first interstellar object to enter our solar system.

Acclaimed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking is part of the £74million project, called Breakthrough Listen, to probe the comet.

Using the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, US, astronomers will today conduct scans of the object to establish whether it was “sent by an alien civilization”.

oumuamua asteroid PA

MYSTERY: Scientists believe the Oumuamua asteroid may be an alien spacecraft

Top Facts About Asteroids

 
Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. The first asteroid was Ceres, discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801. There are currently over 600,000 known asteroids in our solar system. Most asteroids are found orbiting in the Asteroid Belt, a series of rings located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
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There are Millions of Asteroids in the solar system, usually found in the Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, however those in that pass the Earth are called Near-Earth objects Getty Images
There are Millions of Asteroids in the solar system, usually found in the Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, however those in that pass the Earth are called Near-Earth objects

    Ahead of the 10-hour scan, one astronomer has claimed the object may contain a sinister alien race that threatens life as we know it.

    In a chilling echo of HG Wells’ sci-fi thriller War of the Worlds, professor Avi Loeb suggested the object could be transporting a “very intelligent civilisation” that mean harm to humans.

    Should the object prove to be of ET origin, Loeb, an astronomy expert from Harvard University, has urged scientists to adopt a cautious approach.

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    “There is also the possibility that such a civilisation will have hostile intentions and risk our existence.”

    Professor Avi Loeb

    He told MailOnline: “My recommendation, as in any dialogue, is that we first listen and do our best to understand what we are hearing.

    “Once we figure this out, we can decide how to respond.

    “Overall, I am an optimist. I believe that a very intelligent civilisation will be peaceful, and we could save ourselves millions or billions of years by learning from it.

    “But there is also the possibility that such a civilisation will have hostile intentions and risk our existence, so we should deliberate carefully in any future contact with them.”

    Oumuamua asteroid WIKIPEDIA

    PATH: Trajectory of Oumuamua through the inner Solar System

    Another astronomer, Dr Jason Wright from Penn State University, speculated that the object could be an alien spacecraft with broken engines.

    As Oumuamua soars through our solar system at 196,000mph, its “tumbling” motion resembles a broken spacecraft, he said.

    On his blog, Dr Wright wrote: “Such derelict craft would, if they are not travelling so fast that they escape the Galaxy, eventually 'thermalize' with the stars and end up drifting around like any other interstellar comet or asteroid.

    “In fact, since they (presumably) no longer have attitude control, one would expect that they would eventually begin to tumble, and if they are very rigid that tumbling might distinguish them from ordinary interstellar asteroids… and in fact, just because their propulsion is broken doesn't mean that their radio transmitters would be broken.”

    stephen hawking GETTY

    PROBE: Stephen Hawking is leading a team of scientists in a scan of the asteroid

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    A satellite image of eastern Russia's Lake El'gygytgyn, which sits inside a small asteroid impact crater Getty Images
    Eastern Russia's Lake El'gygytgyn, which sits inside a small asteroid impact crater

      Astronomers spotted the strange object – the size of New York’s Empire State Building – through the Pan-STARR telescope in Hawaii on October 19.

      The bizarre object is spinning on its axis every seven hours and is expected to zoom past Jupiter next year before Pluto in the 2020s.

      But the team of scientists will listen for radio frequencies from 8pm tonight before it flies out of reach of telescopes.

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