If it's not an alien megastructure, could it be... a black hole?

Alternative hypotheses are put forward as skeptics agree evidence for aliens is non-existent.

Astronomers continue to puzzle over a distant star that for some reason, is having a substantial quantity of its light blocked from reaching Earth. The find is one-of-a-kind and is fueling speculation that intelligent life could be at work.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - In 2011, planet hunters using data from the Kepler Space Telescope observed a bizarre phenomenon not seen before in since with any other star. As much as 22 percent of the light from star KIC 8462852, was being blocked, then unblocked.

The Kepler Space Telescope searches for planets around stars by carefully measuring their light. When a massive planet passes between the star and Earth, it can block a tiny fraction of a percent of the star's light. That's imperceptible to the human eye, but sensitive equipment like Kepler can observe it plainly. No planet has ever blocked more than 1 percent of the light coming from a star.

However, in the case of KIC 8462852, a full 22 percent of the star's light was observed being blocked, then unblocked. There is no natural phenomenon that easily explains this.

Alien conspiracy theorists quickly went to work, suggesting an advanced civilization was building a cocoon around the star to harvest its energy. This idea is supported by a theory that suggests as a civilization becomes more advanced, its needs for energy increases. Eventually, such a civilization will need to build a megastructure around its parent star in order to meet their needs for energy.

The find is one-of-a-kind, out of tens of thousands of stars Kepler has observed. As a result, alien hunters, specifically the SETI program (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) are aiming their radio telescopes at the star to see if there are any radio transmissions coming from it. If the aliens still use radio waves to communicate, which travel at the speed of light, then perhaps they can be found somewhere on the radio spectrum and recorded. Such a recording could reveal unnatural patterns, which would be a definite clue that we have found an actual, intelligent alien civilization.

But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and so far all we have is starlight that has dimmed more than expected, but that alone is not proof that intelligent life is at work. Instead, it could be a previously unknown phenomenon.

Or, more likely, the starlight is being obscured by clouds of comets or even just dust.

Another hypothesis is that a massive object, such as a black hole, has passed between Earth and the star, bending the light itself, deflecting a portion of it away from the lens of the Kepler telescope. It's unlikely, but definitely possible within the laws of physics. We have seen massive objects, such as entire galaxy clusters, bend light in a phenomenon called "gravitational lensing."

The most popular theory is that the star may have recently passed by another star, which would have hurled a massive number of comets towards KIC 8462852. All those comets, though individually small, could be enough to block much of its light. The comets also spew tails of dust which can go a long way to blocking the tiny photons of light Kepler is designed to see.

In other words, dust is the most likely reason why we've seen such dramatic dimming of the star's light.

However, that doesn't answer one key question: why haven't we seen anything similar among the tens of thousands of other stars Kepler has observed?

For now, follow up surveys will be made. Odds are excellent they will return nothing of note, and we will be left to baffle over this mystery for years to come, possibly decades. However, one thing is for sure, science fiction writers have something new to capitalize on, now that KIC 8462852 is in the public conversation. Expect the books and movies to follow.

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