[avz]

It seems to me that "the universe" is not an appropriate term for our close planetary neighborhood.

There is a difference between an interstellar object passing within 85 times the distance to the Moon (so closer than Mars at closest approach to Earth) and say a supernova thousands or millions of light years away (and hence thousands or millions of years ago).

I don't know where the universe begins, but I'd say Low Earth Orbit and the Moon don't qualify while Proxima Centauri does. For reference:

Distance from ground to space: ~100 km

Distance from California to Australia: ~12,000 km

Distance to the Moon: ~400,000 km

Distance to 'Oumuamua's closest approach: ~33,000,000 km

Distance to Mars at closest approach: ~55,000,000 km

Distance to the Sun: ~150,000,000 km

Distance to Neptune: ~4,500,000,000 km

Current distance to 'Oumuamua ~5,000,000,000 km

Distance to Sedna: ~13,000,000,000 km

Distance to Proxima Centauri: ~40,000,000,000,000 km

[a2800276]

s/universe/solar system/

There are still plenty of other possibile curiosities than interstellar rocks in closer proximity than Proxima Centauri. Each would require highly specialized instruments.

Not sure what the window of opportunity was for O6a, but it's doubtful that it would have been possible to prepare a mission in that timeframe. It follows that such "spaceships" would need to be prepared ahead of time and maintained indefinitely for an event which may not occur again for centuries ...