As an asteroid approached Earth a few years ago, scientists suddenly grappled with an age-old question: could this be a sign of alien life? Matthew Bothwell is an astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge, and he joins host Krys Boyd to talk about the rock – named  “Oumuamua,” the theories that sprung up around it, and what happens when scarce data leads to wild speculation. His article in Aeon is called “Contact.”