An Interview With Astronomer Avi Loeb on the Mysterious Interstellar Body 'Oumuamua: 'Thinking About Distant Civilizations Isn't Speculative'

Astronomer Avi Loeb believes that the interstellar object dubbed 'Oumuamua could actually be a probe sent by alien beings. Given the evidence that has so far been gathered, he says, it is a possible conclusion to draw.

Avi Loeb, 56, is chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University and has published more than 700 papers on astrophysical phenomena. His areas of interest include black holes and the birth of the first stars in the universe. More recently, Loeb has focused on the possible existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life, a topic on which he is currently writing a textbook.