A brilliant book. Not a tale of ‘little green men’ but a scientific analysis of the data surrounding Oumuamua. The author suggests that there is a 91% likelihood it was a piece of alien technology. He also looks discusses his own background, philosophical beliefs and the conservative attitudes of the scientific establishment who give credence to ideas like ‘string theory’ and ‘multiverses’ which are much more unlikely to exist that the possibility that Oumuamua was a piece of discarded alien technology which passed through our solar system. Yet his thesis is almost rejected by ignoring the data on the object’s light characteristics and reflectivity, it’s speed, change of direction when circumnavigating the sun and it’s incredible increase in velocity without any data to suggest out-gassing and the fact that it accelerated away at great speed in a straight line on a course which was not predicted. A truly fascinating book in every way. Interesting, written for the lay-reader and readily understandable to me an amateur astronomer with no scientific tracing beyond 3 ‘O’ levels in Biology, Physics and Chemistry.

Avi Loeb thinks outside the box and pushed conventional thinking.

A decent read.

Avi Leob brings a fresh and challenging approach to an old topic. Asking us to consider rocking the paradigm boat by reverse logic of Occam's Razor. Should science be more daring? Should we accept Omaumau's wager? Leob's book comes at an important time and is thought provoking in it's suggestions. How are we to explore the enigmas of the Universe? How do we ensure our continued survival? I hope this book will be the start of a new Era in our search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

I found this to be an unexpectedly interesting read as the author also used it to cover his academic life in very brief extracts of a most readable autobiography. He wasn’t apologetic about the main books subject, EXTRATERRESTRIAL The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, which he thought provoking covered extremely well. More that he needed to explain ‘his’ approach to life and learning and why he came to the conclusions he, and a few others, raised as a genuinely science based high probability of what the mysterious object ‘Oumuamua’ was - no giveaway as it’s in the title...

While the book is above all positive for the future outlook of science it also raises a major concern that current high level education and research posts are not leading to the immense leap forwards that should be aspired to. Career positions are often awarded to those that follow the current views rather than try and push the boundaries. We have repeatedly not learnt from the significantly slow history of key science progression, extremely well told with many examples.

We need more scientists like the author, Avi Lobe, those that tread new paths rather than deciding to ‘always’ follow in those of others...

For a scientific book, the content is remarkably one-sided and self-promoting. I will admit to finding it entertaining but was disappointed that the content that was directly relevant to 'Oumouamoua was quite limited. Few opposing points of view are given a fair hearing and we are left with the impression of someone who could do with a little more humility.

Has advanced extraterrestrial technology passed through our cosmic backyard? Avi Loeb lays out a compelling argument that it has! We'll never know. Nevertheless, the absence of a definitive answer makes this book no less fascinating. Loeb intertwines the captivating interstellar journey of Oumuamua with his own equally captivating personal journey, forcing us to ask the question are we alone? Highly recommended!

Are they out there 🚀

I knew this book would widen my depth and understanding of the world but little was I too know to what extent. As with all books I read them to look more intellectual to others, especially on public transport. However I feel that this book has actually made me more intellectual, if that was possible!!! 😁 For anyone with an interest in aliens, UFOs etc this is the book for you. Message me if you want to chat

L'auteur peine à convaincre ses lecteurs comme il peine à convaincre ses confrères. Beaucoup trop de digressions. Le titre ne fait référence qu'à une simple hypothèse.

Un libro bellissimo ed intellettualmente molto stimolante. Mostra in maniera estremamente chiara il processo dell'investigazione scientifica, anche quando impressionanti anomalie vengono scoperte. Altamente raccomandato agli studiosi seri che desiderano conoscere sia il metodo scientifico che il senso dell'esplorazione di cio' che ancora non conosciamo.

As a non-Scientist, with a huge curiosity about what space exploration, I found this book an easy, educational, and enjoyable read. We will be hearing much more from Avi Loeb and his unique gifts.

Not only does Avi reveal more details of the unusual not to mention unique aspects of Oumuamua than any other researcher, but he also discusses at length what is wrong with the current academic attitudes to truly challenging phenomena. First using the example of Oumuamua, he shows that there are 6 or more unique aspects to the case, and not just 2 or 3 as most researchers maintain. The latter seem to be seeking to play down the truly challenging aspects of the case. This is because to admit all the challenging aspects would be to show that the evidence points clearly, using Occam's razor, to a 91% probability of an extraterrestrial technological nature of the object. And the ET hypothesis is shown to need less extreme concatenations of events than proposals for a natural origin: the latter include hydrogen ice just enough scraped off a hydrogen ice planetoid. The number of such unusual objects that would have to be produced makes it extremely unlikely that we would have observed one of these in the lifetime of the galaxy. It is calculations of this sort that are the stuff of good research and this is what this book exudes in every page. So if you are of a scientific leaning then this book will make a very good case for Oumuamua having been a defunct light sail and possibly a beacon set to be at the mean velocity of the local stellar environment. In this case it was the solar system that bumped into this beacon, and not vice versa.

Excelente libro. Ademas de los aspectos científicos relacionados con el hallazgo de Oumuamua, lo importante es tener una mente abierta, buscar otras opciones, otras posibilidades, no conformarse con lo establecido. No ser miopes en nuestra vida.