Is this cigar-shaped asteroid an alien ship? Scientists finding answers

West Virginia : A cigar-shaped asteroid, first interstellar body in our solar system, alarmed scientists with a possibility of it being an alien ship due to unusual shape and metal content of it.

A team of researchers, including Stephen Hawking, are testing whether it has anything to reveal about alien life outside the solar system.

On Wednesday, scientists observed the asteroid - that they have named it Oumuamua - for nearly 10 hours using Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia.

'Oumuamua is a Hawaiian term meaning roughly 'a messenger reaching out in advance.'

According to the project's website, 'Oumuamua, the mysterious interloper recently spotted moving rapidly through the solar system, was discovered by the Pan-STARRS project at the University of Hawaii in October 2017 when it passed by Earth at about 85 times the distance to the Moon - a stone's throw away in astronomical terms. 

'Oumuamua, formally known as 1I/2017 U1, is the first object discovered in the solar system that appears to originate from another star system. Its high speed – 196,000 mph at its peak – suggests it is not gravitationally bound to the Sun and that it will continue its voyage back into interstellar space.