An object observed floating through our solar system last year may have been extra-terrestrial spacecraft debris, Harvard University astronomers have suggested.
The object's cigar-shape is "unprecedented... for previously known asteroids and comets in the Solar System," according to a paper by researchers at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
The object was named 'Oumuamua, which is Hawaiian for "a messenger that reaches out from the distant past" and was discovered in October last year by a telescope in Hawaii.
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Scientists suggest the object may have been propelled by solar radiation, as "non-gravitational acceleration" was detected.
Astronomers said there was a possibility that 'Oumuamua was "a lightsail of artificial origin".
It suggested that the dark red object, 10 times as long as it was wide, would have trouble withstanding impact from space dust and gases without breaking.
It was travelling at speeds of over 315,000km/h when first observed last year.
The acceleration of 'Oumuamua was consistent with that of active comets, but its lack of "cometary tail and gas emission/absorption lines" suggested that the object was not an active comet.
The paper said a "more exotic scenario is that 'Oumuamua may be a fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth vicinity by an alien probe."
The study is yet to be peer-reviewed and scientists say to be weary of the information and suggestions presented.
Dr Katherine Mack is an astrophysicist, and tweeted about the validity of claims made in the paper.
"Please keep in mind that the only thing you can conclude is that the authors of the paper (probably) didn't see a reason the idea had to be 100% false," she said.
Multiple studies on 'Oumuamua are currently in review, evidence from which should bring us closer to knowing what the object was and where it came from.
Newshub.
