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A fast blue optical transient (FBOT) is an optical transient with a very short rise and fall time (i.e., shorter than known types of supernovae), one criteria being that the its light-curve peaks within five days of its beginning. Over the last few years, these have been noticed and recorded, undoubtedly now noticed due to growing efforts to catch transients (for discovering supernovae early, and for identifying near-Earth objects) and more will be discovered now that instances have been seen, and with additional efforts to catch transients such as the future Rubin Observatory. Furthermore, there are efforts to identify them in archive data. Only a few FBOTs have been noticed, and theories as to the source and mechanism vary, and more than one mechanism may have produced them. An example is AT2018cow, a 2018 supernova-like transient in a known galaxy that seems to be an order-of-magnitude or more energetic than a typical supernova, and which displayed the quick rise time.