Harvard Scientist Claims Rare Interstellar Object Might Be "Alien Technology"
The object has been categorised as interstellar because of the hyperbolic shape of its orbital path. It does not follow a closed orbital path about the Sun, NASA explained. The space agency mentioned that the comet is simply passing through our solar system and will continue its journey into interstellar space.
"The retrograde orbital plane of 3I/ATLAS around the Sun lies within 5 degrees of that of Earth... The likelihood of that coincidence out of all random orientations is 0.2 per cent," Loeb told the news outlet.
3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1, 2025, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey telescope in Chile. Scientists have estimated that 3I/ATLAS is approximately 10-20 kilometres in diameter, making it the largest interstellar object detected so far.
According to Loeb, the brightness of 3I/ATLAS suggests that the object is around 20 kilometres in diameter. He explained that it is "too large for an interstellar asteroid" and "might have targeted the inner Solar System as expected from alien technology".
Loeb said that the object lacks features of the comets. "No spectral features of cometary gas are found in spectroscopic observations of 3I/ATLAS," he said.
Meanwhile, other scientists are wary of Loeb's claims. Richard Moissl, Head of Planetary Defence at the European Space Agency, told Newsweek: "There have been no signs pointing to non-natural origins of 3I/ATLAS in the available observations."
The comet will reach its closest point to the Sun (perihelion) on October 29, 2025, passing just inside Mars' orbit.
The astronomers are studying 3I/ATLAS using ground- and space-based telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), to learn more about its composition, structure, and origin.
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