In science fiction, a mysterious and excessively large object of unknown origin is called a "Big Dumb Object" or BDO. The term, originally coined as a joke, is attributed to Roz Kaveney.
A typical BDO has unknown put potentially immense power and often unusual properties, even going against the physical laws. Contrary to the misleading name, these objects are by no mean dumb but either lack the means to communicate or are simply too far advanced to bother with humans.
Of course, in most stories, it is the secret of the BDO that drives the protagonist into action. Needless to say not all the secrets can be solved.
A few prime examples:
⚫️ The monolith in Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
⚫️ The ring-shaped artefact in Larry Niven's Ringworld
⚫️ The Dyson Sphere in Bob Shaw's Orbitsville
⚫️ The cylindrical probe approaching and threatening to destroy Earth in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
⚫️ The Sphere in Michael Crichton's novel of the same name.
⚫️ and many more
Of course there is also an ongoing discussion on how big a BDO must be to qualify, if the Death Star of Star Wars counts (it is artificial, of course, but as we witness it's construction—and destruction—it doesn't contain the usual mysteries) or if Earth in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy should be considered a BDO too, it's been constructed by aliens, after all...
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SF Sub-Genre Definitions
RandomAre you a budding sci-fi author? Do you need the many different sub genres of SF defined? A lot of people do so if you're one of them... this is where you need to look!
