Aliens coming, interstellar object 3I/ATLAS may be their ship and we have no defense; this Harvard astrophysicist is almost 100% sure

Economic Times

13 hours ago

TIL Creatives
The third interstellar object ever detected, 3I/ATLAS, is hurtling through our solar system — and some scientists believe it might not be natural
Since the inception of human space exploration, there have been innumerable conspiracy theories about aliens and their existence, but this time, it might be true. A mysterious object 3I/ATLAS has entered our solar system and it is the third confirmed interstellar visitor in recorded history. But is it just a comet or an alien technology?That's the question Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb is asking about 3I/ATLAS, the third confirmed interstellar object ever discovered, which is now racing through space toward a close solar encounter this fall. While most astronomers see a harmless, icy comet, Loeb and a team of researchers are entertaining a radical hypothesis, What if 3I/ATLAS is actually a piece of alien technology, and possibly even hostile?The suggestion, outlined in a new preprint paper and a follow-up blog post by Loeb, reopens a debate he ignited in 2017 when he proposed that the interstellar object ʻOumuamua was an alien light sail. That claim made him a scientific celebrity, and a lightning rod for criticism.Now, Loeb is back.'This hypothesis proposes that our cosmic neighborhood is dangerous, filled with intelligent civilizations that are hostile and silent to avoid detection by potential predators,' Loeb wrote.
At first glance, 3I/ATLAS fits the bill for a comet. Discovered on July 1, 2025 by NASA's ATLAS telescope in Chile, it is more than 12 miles wide, traveling at 37 miles per second, and follows a hyperbolic orbit, meaning it came from beyond our solar system and won't return. Its trajectory will bring it within 130 million miles of Earth on October 30, according to NASA.
But Loeb argues the orbit is too perfect. The object is projected to pass close to Venus, Earth, and Jupiter, a rare planetary flyby that he says has a 0.005 percent probability of happening by chance.His paper suggests that if 3I/ATLAS were an intelligently guided spacecraft, it might be using those planetary flybys to maneuver or refuel, like a probe sent for surveillance or even first contact.'A trajectory shift, if detected before November, could confirm intelligence,' he warned. 'By then, it might be too late to respond.''Any suggestion that it's artificial is nonsense on stilts,' said Oxford astronomer Chris Lintott, who helped simulate 3I/ATLAS's origins. 'It's an insult to the real work being done.'So far, there's no evidence of a tail, no unusual signal, no propulsion. But Loeb says we shouldn't be so sure. He points to the noisy and inconclusive infrared data used in recent 'water ice' analyses and argues that L-type asteroid spectra fit just as well.
He's calling for urgent action, a space probe launched this fall to intercept the object and get a definitive answer. Private voices, including engineers and even design studios, have rallied behind him, urging Elon Musk and SpaceX to get involved before the window closes. The tension is palpable. With its solar approach looming and no probe yet launched, 3I/ATLAS may slip through our grasp, just like ʻOumuamua did.