Episode 116: The Oumuamua Mystery — Interstellar Rock, or Alien Probe?In October 2017, astronomers detected something that had never been seen before — an object moving through our solar system from outside it. The first confirmed interstellar visitor in recorded history. They named it 'Oumuamua. And then it started behaving strangely. An acceleration no conventional explanation has fully satisfied. A shape unlike any known natural object. A Harvard professor who proposed, in a peer-reviewed paper, that it might be artificial. Tonight we examine the mystery that refuses to close.This episode explores:* The two confirmed anomalies — extreme elongated shape and non-gravitational acceleration without detectable outgassing* Avi Loeb's peer-reviewed Harvard paper proposing 'Oumuamua could be a light sail — a piece of extraterrestrial technology* The nitrogen ice hypothesis and other natural explanations proposed since 2017 — and why none has fully satisfied all researchers* The 2025 arrival of 3I/ATLAS — the third interstellar object detected — and Loeb's follow-up analysis* Why the Breakthrough Listen programme scanned 'Oumuamua for radio signals and found nothing* The 2026 UAP disclosure context — how congressional testimony about non-human craft changes the framework for evaluating anomalous space objectsFor believers, the specific combination of shape, acceleration, and missing outgassing cannot be explained by any natural mechanism currently identified. For most astronomers, parsimony favours an unusual natural object we have not yet fully characterised.What is certain: 'Oumuamua visited our solar system, behaved in ways that surprised us, and left before we could study it properly. The next interstellar visitor may not be so quick to leave.Keywords: Oumuamua alien probe, interstellar object Oumuamua, Avi Loeb Oumuamua theory, 3I ATLAS interstellar 2025, Harvard alien probe research, Oumuamua light sail theory, first interstellar object mystery, Oumuamua non-gravitational acceleration, is Oumuamua alien technology, UAP alien probe connection

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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