Stephen Hawking on Aliens, UFOs: Theoretical physicist weighs in on possible alien ship near Earth

Stephen Hawking at his official welcoming ceremony in Perimeter Institute For Theoretical PhysicsREUTERS/Sheryl Nadler

Earth has a new visitor in the form of 'Oumuamua, a large floating object near the planet, which was confirmed to have been from another solar system. This has drawn the attention of theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, where the Professor has been working with a scientific body to determine what the unidentified flying object (UFO) really is.

This scientific body, named Breakthrough Listen, is also led by Hawking and are now hard at work on discovering whether the said object is an alien spacecraft or just an unknown natural phenomenon. The inference that it might actually be a spacecraft stemmed from the shape of the object itself, which is actually a 400-meter long interstellar object with an elongated shape like that of a cigarette stick.

Artist's impression of ʻOumuamua, the first known interstellar object to pass through the Solar System.Wikimedia Commons/ESO/M. Kornmesser and nagualdesign

Breakthrough Listen has then released an official statement saying, "Researchers working on long-distance space transportation have previously suggested that a cigar or needle shape is the most likely architecture for an interstellar spacecraft since this would minimise friction and damage from interstellar gas and dust."

They did not, however, rule out the fact that it could've just had natural origins, though what could've caused the shape is unknown and certainly strange for a giant space rock. Another educated guess is that it could actually be an artifact which drifted from some distant inhabited planet or solar system with an alien civilization to boot.

Hawking and his team are now utilizing the world's largest maneuverable telescope in order to track the movements of the celestial object and even kept watch of it for 10 hours straight. In addition to that, electromagnetic signals are also being monitored since their existence in the said UFO could definitely indicate the alien origin of the object due to the fact that electromagnetic signals are not produced naturally.

Apart from Hawking, another expert named Dr. Jason Wright of Penn State University is convinced that the interstellar object is an extraterrestrial craft whose engines broke down during travel and is stuck in space. So far, nothing has been confirmed yet, but there may soon be official announcements on what the UFO really is.