Tea_Master_of_Gozer

Are instances of multiple, semi-periodic occultations such as this so rare, much less unprecedented? How is it that another astronomer who has worked at SETI can declare that they are not? I find the contradictory statements very confusing.

Don't do it, man! Have you not read Cixin Liu's Three Body books?! We're toast! Game over!

The statement was not an official pronouncement, but rather a Facebook comment by Rowen Poole:

I am doubting the alien megastructures theory. It's an F3 V star - which means it's larger, hotter and younger than our sun (though not extremely so). ie - life would have evolved sooner on a planet circling it. Possible? Yes. Probable? Hmm.

The light curve shows interesting variations but not totally unlike stars I have studied over the years. There would appear to be a tight group of large objects orbiting the star. A tight group of comets near the star? Yes. Possible. it could also be explained by the breakup of large moon/planetary body in the relatively recent past (over time debris spreads out). The Earth was hit by an object about the size of Mars 4+ billion years ago. The end result was our moon. Although such things generally happen early on in a solar system, it's not impossible for it to happen billions of years later. The Earth could still be hit by a large asteroid at some point in the future (ask the dinosaurs...).