  We report our investigation of 1SWASP J234401.81-212229.1, a variable with a
18461.6 s period. After identification in a 2011 search of the SuperWASP
archive for main-sequence eclipsing binary candidates near the distribution's
short-period limit of approx. 0.20 d, it was measured to be undergoing rapid
period decrease in our earlier work, though later observations supported a
cyclic variation in period length. Spectroscopic data obtained in 2012 with the
Southern African Large Telescope did not, however, support the interpretation
of the object as a normal eclipsing binary. Here, we consider three possible
explanations consistent with the data: a single-star oblique rotator model in
which variability results from stable cool spots on opposite magnetic poles; a
two-star model in which the secondary is a brown dwarf; and a three-star model
involving a low-mass eclipsing binary in a hierarchical triple system. We
conclude that the latter is the most likely model.
