Unforeseen Contingencies

Evidence for our Wild Card prediction is ... not forthcoming.  Attempts to detect communications from Oumuamua have turned up nothing.  The object's unusual acceleration and movements have scientists conjecturing that it's a vehicle of some sort, but testing this hypothesis has proved difficult, and it's a little late now because the darned thing is getting away.  If it could be shown that Oumuamua was sending signals of some sort to whomever or whatever sent it it would be evidence of the existence of whomever or whatever.  Unfortunately, nothing has been detected.

Observers have drawn two conclusions from this episode which are worth noting:

1. We ought to have a probe ready for the next time this happens.  Apparently it is within our technological capability to investigate an object that comes as close as Oumuamua, but we'd have to be prepared.  There was very little time from the moment Oumuamua was first detected.

2. That "very little time" ought to concern us, because a large object could be hurtling towards us on a collision course right now.  Oumuamua shows that such an object can get very close without us noticing -- too close for us to have time to react.  If we want to avoid Lucifer's Hammer and expect to do anything about it, we ought to begin preparing now.

Regardless, no one can figure out what the heck this thing is.  It's highly unlikely humans will ever know.