The cigar-shaped comet that visited our solar system last year could have been a spacecraft sent by an alien civilization, according to a research paper to be published in the Astrophysical Journal.

But it’s not likely, say astronomers, who expect to hear many more theories about the comet, which has already sped out of our solar system.

Scientists have been puzzling over the comet, dubbed “Oumuamua” after the Hawaiian word for “messenger,” since it was first spotted swooping past the planets at an odd angle. Its speed was so blistering and trajectory so strange that scientists concluded it had to be a visitor from another star. Subsequent observations by dozens of telescopes in every wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum suggested it was an inert (if extraordinary) space rock – dense, dustless, and reddened by irradiation from cosmic rays.

Just to be on the safe side, astronomers at the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia specifically listened for signals from any electronic device that might be attached to the object. They didn’t hear a peep.

But then a preprint of the Astrophysical Journal research paper appeared online this week, posing an “exotic scenario” in which the Oumuamua was a solar-powered probe built by an alien civilization.

There’s no actual evidence to support this idea. Indeed, the majority of the study is devoted to examining how radiation pressure from the sun might push on a natural object and contribute to Oumuamua’s unexplained acceleration. This phenomenon is the basis for a proposed method of spacecraft propulsion called light sails, which may be how we get from “whoa, weird rock” to “it might be aliens!” The study authors justify their speculation by arguing that the probability of an ordinary comet intercepting our solar system after being ejected by its home star is very small.

As astrophysicist Katie Mack pointed out on Twitter, coming up with far-out explanations for slightly strange phenomena is one of astronomers’ favorite parlor games. That doesn’t mean you need to stock up on canned goods and tin foil hats every time a weird theory gets published.

“Until every other possibility has been exhausted dozen times over, even the authors probably don’t believe it,” Mack said.

Other astronomers were not so forgiving of their colleagues’ speculation.

Paul M. Sutter tweeted “My publicist asked me for a quote on the Oumuamua story making the rounds. Here it is: ‘No, Oumuamua is not an alien spaceship, and the authors of the paper insult honest scientific inquiry to even suggest it.’ ”

“Feel free to use that, @fcain, @tariqjmalik!”

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