Is the Oumuamua really an alien aircraft?

Let's talk about...Oumuamua.

Now, now…please behave.
Hey, what did you think I was doing? That’s just the name of something.

Oh really? Of what?
We’re not sure. Just imagine a giant cigar flying through space.


What do you mean?
It’s an interstellar object passing through the solar system.

If you know that, then what are you not sure about?
Whether it might be an alien aircraft.

This is some flight of your fancy.
No, let me explain.

Facts only, please, no explanations.
Okay. The Oumuamua was detected last year. It is a longish object that is not a comet or an asteroid. It travels at a high speed, and was tumbling through space, across our solar system. It passed around 170 million miles away from earth.

Interesting. Carry on.
Now, it had seems to have moved off course at a point, some kind of a push off, unlike something caused by gravity. Scientists, especially two astrophysicists from Harvard, have said in a recent paper that this non-gravitational acceleration is proof of the Oumuamua being an alien spacecraft.

Not quite conclusive, right?
Not at all. In fact another project that tried to detect radio waves or other communication signals from the object found nothing. That doesn’t rule out anything either though. The aircraft may be in stealth mode.

Aha! So no chance of a closer look now?
Not really, it’s kind of gone past us. By the way, Oumuamua was originally named Rama – you remember that novel, 'Rendezvous with Rama' by Arthur C Clarke?

So this name, Oumuamua, is Hawaiian I guess.
Yes. And it means a messenger from distance, or something similar.