Ridge Runner Chronicles: Is Oumuamua Coming Back?

By Editor | May 14, 2025 |

By Bill Hoagland

On October 17, 2017, astrophysicists at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii discovered an object moving at a very rapid speed in our solar system. It appeared to have come from outer space. The astrophysicists at the Observatory named this object “Oumuamua”, which in the Hawaiian language means “the first to arrive from outer space with a message”. (By the way, “Oumuamua” is pronounced “O Moo A Moo A” but to simplify things, we will refer to it here as “O Moo A”). I wrote a column about “O Moo A” back when it was first discovered.
The astrophysicists, upon getting a more measured look, realized that this was not your usual astroid or comet because it was traveling at three times the normal speed of a comet. In addition, it appeared to be on a hyperbolic path, meaning it was not locked into an orbit around the Sun but rather, after coming reasonably close to the Sun, it was headed back out of our solar system. In fact, “O Moo A” appeared to speed up as it pulled away from its closest position to the Sun. Yet despite this non-gravitational acceleration, there was no visible source of power, such as a trail of exhaust smoke, to explain how or why “O Moo A” could accelerate in such a manner.
“O Moo A” appears to be shaped like a flattened cigar, roughly between 300 feet and 1,000 long and between 60 and 200 feet wide, with a red surface. And it appears to be tumbling as it travels at this high rate of speed through space. There are no visible signs of life on “O Moo A” nor does it omit any sound or signal as far as we can tell. It is believed that the surface of “O Moo A” is relatively hard, as if it were composed of rock similar to an astroid. Some astrophysicists think “O Moo A” has been traveling through the universe for millions of years.
Astrophysicists lamented the fact that “O Moo A” was in and out of our viewing area within four weeks and we did not have time to study it more closely. Some thought that we should send a spacecraft to catch up to it, but that is now out of the question because “O Moo A” is now too far away. Despite its short stay, over two thousand scientific papers were written about “O Moo A” because it is the first interstellar object we have had in our solar system (that we know of) and there are lots of theories about its origin, including the theory that it is a probe from an alien planet seeking to find a suitable habitat.
But now, seven years later, “O Moo A” is again in the news. According to Elon Musk, (and he seemed pretty definite about this), “O Moo A” is coming back into our solar system. He stated that it is on the same trajectory that it previously took but this time, there appears to be at least two other unidentified objects accompanying “O Moo A” on this journey. Frankly, many astrophysicists doubt this and they say that “O Moo A” is clearly still on its way out of our solar system but what if Musk is right? If it is coming back, this would be the most significant news in our lifetime because it could mean that “O Moo A” is being “maneuvered” and you know what that means. If the notion that this is a probe seems preposterous, remember that for over 40 years, we have had our own “probes” moving around the universe—Voyager I and Voyager II—and they are still sending information back to us despite being 15 billion miles away. (So maybe it is not so preposterous?)
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■ Bill Hoagland has practiced law in Alton for more than 50 years, but he has spent more than 70 years hunting, fishing and generally being in the great outdoors. His wife, Annie, shares his love of the outdoor life. Much of their spare time is spent on their farm in Calhoun County. Bill can be reached at [email protected].