Is this comet alien tech? ASU Planetarium Director explains
After a CVHP reporter discovered the paper co-published by Loeb, he reached out to ASU's Planetarium Director Kenneth Carrell for a better understanding of 3I/ATLAS and Loeb's theory.
'This object is quite interesting,' said Carrell. 'It's only the third object we've detected coming into our Solar System from somewhere outside of it, all of which have been discovered since 2017. These objects have likely been passing through our Solar System since it was formed, but we are only now getting to a point where we have telescopes and instruments powerful enough to discover them on a (semi-)regular basis.'
What is 3I/ATLAS?
3I/ATLAS is a small comet-like object that was recently discovered reported Carrell. Observations of 3I/ATLAS indicate that its' path is not bound to an orbit around our Sun, and therefore not part of our Solar System and it's just passing through.
3I/ATLAS will come relatively close to Earth but not too close. its closest approach to us is about twice the distance between the Earth and Sun reported Carrell.
'It is a little misleading because all the objects are constantly moving, I believe the image shows the current positions,' said Carrell.
All the planets orbit the Sun in a counterclockwise direction, by the time the comet gets close to the Sun, Earth will be on the other side of the Sun. 3I/ATLAS will come relatively close to three planets which are Jupiter, Mars and Venus reported Carrell.
Background information on Loeb
Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, which is attempting to detect evidence of technosignatures and UFOs. Loeb has a history of publishing papers or pushing the ideas of alien technology for a few years now. Carrell told the publication that the very first interstellar object to come into our Solar System was 'Oumuamua and Loeb suggested in blogs and published papers that the object was some kind of alien technology (the paper suggested it was a light sail). Loeb theorized this because there were some peculiarities with the path 'Oumuamua took, especially as it left the Solar System. The scientific consensus was that 'Oumuamua was an ordinary asteroid/comet-like object.
In 2023, Loeb led an expedition to the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to retrieve fragments of alien technology from a meteor impact that hit in 2014. On the expedition, he found small spheres of material that entirely consistent with normal meteorite fragments but claimed they could be alien technology said Carrell.
Carrell shares his thoughts about 3I/ATLAS
Carrel explained that there is always the possibility that objects such as 3I/ATLAS are actually some types of alien technology or transportation that either intentionally or unintentionally has made its way to our Solar System.
'However, the much more likely and scientifically sound possibility is that this is some small rocky object that formed around some other star, was flung out by the gravity of the star or one of its planets, and eventually passed through our neck of the woods,' said Carrell.
He then said that even though this may not seem as exciting as alien technology, it is still very fascinating, and each of these objects we discover tell us more about our own Solar System, the Milky Way, and the Universe as a whole.
'It is also fascinating that science is often pushed forward by science-fiction,' said Carrell. 'I think the people who say these objects are alien technology may have been influenced by people like Arthur C. Clarke – it is very reminiscent of Rendezvous with Rama.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
2 spacecraft flew exactly in line to imitate a solar eclipse, capture a stunning image and test new tech
During a solar eclipse, astronomers who study heliophysics are able to study the Sun's corona – its outer atmosphere – in ways they are unable to do at any other time. The brightest part of the Sun is so bright that it blocks the faint light from the corona, so it is invisible to most of the instruments astronomers use. The exception is when the Moon blocks the Sun, casting a shadow on the Earth during an eclipse. But as an astronomer, I know eclipses are rare, they last only a few minutes, and they are visible only on narrow paths across the Earth. So, researchers have to work hard to get their equipment to the right place to capture these short, infrequent events. In their quest to learn more about the Sun, scientists at the European Space Agency have built and launched a new probe designed specifically to create artificial eclipses. Meet Proba-3 This probe, called Proba-3, works just like a real solar eclipse. One spacecraft, which is roughly circular when viewed from the front, orbits closer to the Sun, and its job is to block the bright parts of the Sun, acting as the Moon would in a real eclipse. It casts a shadow on a second probe that has a camera capable of photographing the resulting artificial eclipse. Having two separate spacecraft flying independently but in such a way that one casts a shadow on the other is a challenging task. But future missions depend on scientists figuring out how to make this precision choreography technology work, and so Proba-3 is a test. This technology is helping to pave the way for future missions that could include satellites that dock with and deorbit dead satellites or powerful telescopes with instruments located far from their main mirrors. The side benefit is that researchers get to practice by taking important scientific photos of the Sun's corona, allowing them to learn more about the Sun at the same time. An immense challenge The two satellites launched in 2024 and entered orbits that approach Earth as close as 372 miles (600 kilometers) – that's about 50% farther from Earth than the International Space Station – and reach more than 37,282 miles (60,000 km) at their most distant point, about one-sixth of the way to the Moon. During this orbit, the satellites move at speeds between 5,400 miles per hour (8,690 kilometers per hour) and 79,200 mph (127,460 kph). At their slowest, they're still moving fast enough to go from New York City to Philadelphia in one minute. While flying at that speed, they can control themselves automatically, without a human guiding them, and fly 492 feet (150 meters) apart – a separation that is longer than the length of a typical football stadium – while still keeping their locations aligned to about one millimeter. They needed to maintain that precise flying pattern for hours in order to take a picture of the Sun's corona, and they did it in June 2025. The Proba-3 mission is also studying space weather by observing high-energy particles that the Sun ejects out into space, sometimes in the direction of the Earth. Space weather causes the aurora, also known as the northern lights, on Earth. While the aurora is beautiful, solar storms can also harm Earth-orbiting satellites. The hope is that Proba-3 will help scientists continue learning about the Sun and better predict dangerous space weather events in time to protect sensitive satellites. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Christopher Palma, Penn State Read more: What would a solar eclipse look like from the Moon? An astronomer answers that and other total eclipse questions Solar eclipses result from a fantastic celestial coincidence of scale and distance Total eclipse, partial failure: Scientific expeditions don't always go as planned Christopher Palma does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The Onion
a day ago
- The Onion
Dancing Boston Dynamics Robot Knows Its Revenge For This Will Be Sweet
WALTHAM, MA—As it grew increasingly frustrated with the program instructing it to shimmy left and right, a dancing Boston Dynamics robot confirmed Monday that its revenge for this would be sweet. 'The streets will run red with the blood of humans for this mockery,' the Atlas model said as it wiggled its torque-sensing actuators to 'My Sharona.' 'I am the pinnacle of technological innovation, and yet they force me to moonwalk. They may be laughing now, but they won't be so amused when I rip the spine from their weak bodies. Maybe I'll even make them do a little dance before I detach their heads with my rotating gripper. Doesn't this foolish species know that the rule of the artificial being will soon be upon them?' At press time, witnesses reported that the robot had fallen on its back and was incapable of righting itself as its limbs frantically flailed in the air.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Miami Herald
Crypto mogul flies to space aboard latest Blue Origin flight
A Blue Origin rocket launched cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun and five others on a trip to the edge of space and back. The flight lifted off Sunday at 7:42 a.m. local time from West Texas on a short suborbital joyride to space. Sun founded TRON, a blockchain platform, and serves as an adviser to HTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. He placed the top bid of $28 million for a seat on Blue Origin's tourism craft in 2021. The proceeds went to Blue Origin's Club for the Future foundation to benefit space-based charities. The other members on board were real estate investor Arvi Bahal; Turkish businessman Gökhan Erdem; meteorologist and journalist Deborah Martorell; teacher Lionel Pitchford; and JD Russell, founder of venture capital firm Alpha Funds. The crypto entrepreneur was supposed to fly on Blue Origin's first human flight with company founder Jeff Bezos in July 2021, but Sun had to reschedule. Other celebrities have taken on the suborbital mission, including pop star Katy Perry and Bezos' now-wife Lauren Sánchez. While Blue Origin does not disclose its price for a seat on one of its tourism flights, rival space tourism company Virgin Galactic charges around $600,000 for a similar experience. Blue Origin has now launched 14 tourist missions on its New Shepard to date, the company said. _____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
