In October 2017, a mysterious visitor was spotted by astronomers as it passed through our solar system. First believed to be a comet, the strange object was named 'Oumuamua, meaning 'scout' or 'first distant messenger.' Since its discovery, 'Oumuamua has continued to baffle scientists, displaying unusual acceleration and other capabilities that leave its identity and origins in question.

This week on The Micah Hanks Program, after news and analysis of a recent string of UFO sightings around the Great Lakes (along with some pretty lazy reporting in that regard), we take a look back at the strange "Dancing Plague of 1518," and what modern science has to say about it. Finally, the heart of our discussion deals with the search for interstellar objects in our solar system, and whether evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence might be found in this way.

Some have even proposed that 'Oumuamua might be an interstellar probe sent into space by some intelligent alien civilization, notably Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who drew some criticism for his proposal. We look at the scientific search for alien life, and the history of astronomers who spotted UFOs over the last several centuries in our exploration this week on The Micah Hanks Program. 

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Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

• Medieval shrine discovered in mysterious UK cave
• Yeah, Those Weren't UFOs Over Cleveland Last Weekend, But It'd Be Cool If They Were
• UFOs or Lanterns? Flying Objects Seen in the Night Sky Over US Cities
• Danse Macabre: Strange and Deadly “Dancing Plagues”
• The Dancing plague of 1518
• A forgotten plague: making sense of dancing mania
• ‘Oumuamua and Interstellar Visitors from Beyond
• “Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Appears to Have Broken in Half”
• In Depth: Nasa Science Page for ‘Oumuamua
• Have Aliens Found Us? A Harvard Astronomer on the Mysterious Interstellar Object ‘Oumuamua
• On `Oumuamua by Abraham (Avi) Loeb, Harvard University (Nov 5, 2018)
• The Case for Cosmic Modesty | Abraham (Avi) Loeb
• Abraham 'Avi' Loeb - Alien Intelligences
• Monstrator: The Odd, Ephemeral Mystery Object That “Dropped Anchor” in 1762
• The Curious History of Earth’s Long-Sought “Second Moon”
• The Strange, Sordid History of the ‘Black Knight Satellite’
• Expect More Interstellar Visitors Like ’Oumuamua
• Should Earthlings Chase ‘Oumuamua Into Interstellar Space?
• Homo Galacticus: How Space Will Shape The Humans of The Future

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Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators. Please note that some links to books and other items on this page may feature Amazon Associate links.