It's Tin Man from Star Trek TNG

[Truth66]

Many viewers of Star Trek TNG may remember the episode Tin Man where there was a race between the Federation and Romulans to intercept this possible life form.

As you can expect I got a huge laugh and called out, "It's Tin Man" when I saw this article on a news site a few moments ago:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/telescope-to-scan-mysterious-cigar-shaped-asteroid-for-signs-of-alien-technology-1.3717938

[B5-Stefan]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/teles...logy-1.3717938

But no - it's RAMA from AC Clarke.

Stefan

--
"Perhaps it is time to stop sleeping on Minbari beds or breathing the air of the Vorlons chamber" [response to a jms tweet]

[Ubik]

This is indeed how many classic SF novels begin...

[B5-Stefan]

This is indeed how many classic SF novels begin...

Let's go wikipedia:
"Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke (1973)

"The "Rama" of the title is an alien starship, initially mistaken for an asteroid categorised as "31/439". It is detected by astronomers in the year 2131 while it is still outside the orbit of Jupiter. Its speed (100,000 km/h) and the angle of its trajectory clearly indicate it is not on a long orbit around the sun, but comes from interstellar space."
...
"A real project named Spaceguard was initiated in 1992, named after Clarke's fictional project. After interest in the dangers of asteroid strikes was heightened by a series of Hollywood disaster films, the United States Congress gave NASA authorisation and funding to support Spaceguard. By 2017, there were a number of different efforts to detect potentially dangerous asteroids.

An incoming interstellar object was discovered in 2017, by Pan-STARRS, a system similar to SpaceGuard. Like Rama, the object had an unusually elongated shape. Before the official Hawaiian name 'Oumuamua was selected, a popular choice was Rama."

Stefan

--
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you