Speculative Fact #351: An Interstellar Encounter with Oumuamua

On October 19, 2017, our Solar System was visited by the first interstellar object that we could detect. Named Oumuamua (‘scout’ in Hawaiian), it gained almost immediate attention because its unusual traits. It has been the subject of debate and speculation, with some wondering if Earth had a near encounter (thirty three million kilometers – close by cosmic standards) with an alien spacecraft.

            The arrival of a mysterious object is frequently seen in SF, famously in the case of Arthur C. Clarke’s classic Rendezvous with Rama. In it, the titular object, dubbed Rama by astronomers, turns out to be not a natural body but rather an alien spacecraft with a hollow interior serving as a mini world.

            Like Rama, Oumuamua has some peculiar traits that make it stand out among its siblings. For one, it’s rather cylindrical (up to a kilometer in length with a height and width of several hundred meters). Although Oumuamua has been theorized by some to be some sort of cometary fragment, observations have not detected any of the associated outgassing.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Oumuamua is that it’s accelerating away from our system. The scientific community has several postulations to explain this behavior (one is that radiation from the Sun could be pushing it away like a solar sail), while the community of laymen and alien enthusiasts are having an explosion of enthusiasm and curiosity.  

The way that Oumuamua garnered attention – especially via social media – helped it work its way into the public’s mind. Astronomers remind us that several interstellar objects might pass through out System every year without being detected. And although it’s leaving us for good, the international space exploration community has not ruled out the possibility of future missions to the curious object.

Your story might take a curious case like Oumuamua’s and use it as a jumping off point. Maybe we do make a rendezvous, and maybe we’re shocked by what we find. Maybe this ‘scout’ was merely the first of many visitors, and a harbinger of something to come…

Jonathan Hernandez

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