ALIEN SHOCK: Oumuamua ‘may be one of QUADRILLION probes sent by alien civilisation’

This implied it was a cigar or pancake-shaped object falling through space, which would be extremely unusual for a naturally-occurring asteroid.

However, no radio signals were detected coming from Oumuamua, with most scientists concluding it is not the result of intelligent design.

Nevertheless, the late Stephen Hawking was also involved in investigations in a bid to discover the nature of the strange object.

Rendezvous with Rama, which was published in 1973, is set in the year 2077, with mankind having colonised much of the Solar System.

A team of astronauts is successful sent to intercept the vast probe, and the novel tells the story of what they discover inside it.