Here’s a quick rundown of what this article covers:
- The object known as 3I/ATLAS is now too distant for telescopes to observe, yet previous data reveals some odd characteristics.
- Astrophysicist Avi Loeb suggests that these peculiar traits might indicate it’s not just an ordinary object, perhaps hinting at a possible alien craft.
- Regardless of whether this space rock is extraterrestrial or not (which many experts debate), Loeb’s findings could aid in the study of future interstellar phenomena.
Every time a mysterious object zips into our Solar System, it sparks curiosity about where it might have come from. What’s its story? How was it formed? Why would it be ejected from its home star system? And one big question hangs over it: could this object actually be an alien spaceship?
Similar to the infamous Oumuamua and 21/Borisov, 3I/ATLAS is the new shiny thing in space news today. While they don’t resemble the cool science fiction spaceships we imagine, the truth is, we really don’t know what an actual alien vessel would look like. Avi Loeb from Harvard, the director of the Black Hole Initiative and pretty vocal about the possibilities of alien life, believes it’s possible we’re being monitored by aliens launching capabilities that simply masquerade as ordinary space debris.
Teaming up with Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies, Loeb came up with a sort of thought exercise considering whether 3I/ATLAS could actually be a piece of extraterrestrial tech. Inspired by the idea of the “dark forest hypothesis”—which posits that alien civilizations might hide from one another to survive—Loeb brings attention to some strange findings related to this object. He points out that while these findings do not conclusively prove it’s an alien ship, they could present some clues if intelligent beings were to stop by Earth.
Loeb fully recognizes that discussing such possibilities leads to serious disagreements in the scientific community. In a study shared with the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, he claims that exploring this hypothesis is valuable, combining allowing open-minded discussion with creative speculation.
The motivations of these potential spacefarers vary—be they simply cruisers seeking new homes or possibly hostile entities; we can only speculate about their intentions. Will they seek out peaceful interaction, or deliberate harm against humanity? Our ability to defend should aliens wish to challenge us is an open question, heavily relying on our ignorance of their technology.
3I/ATLAS has also been noted for some unusual aspects. Its path crosses backwards compared to how other Solar System objects move around the Sun, and yet its plane is surprisingly close to Earth’s—within five degrees of precision. Loeb estimates the chances of this occurring is a mere 2%! As it skirts around the Sun, it gets close to Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, raising several eyebrows due to the probabilities involved.
As for what this object actually **is**, the consensus points towards it being either an asteroid or a comet, but its brightness seems odd for an object of its size (20 km wide, or about 12.4 miles). If we scratch out the asteroid theory, we might lean towards comet classification, except that data from the MUSE instrument on the Very Large Telescope suggests it lacks typical signs of cometary gas emissions. Nevertheless, it’s covered in dust, which could easily be masking some of its inherent traits. Light bouncing off its surface gives it a reddened appearance, evoking similarities with certain Trans-Neptunian objects.
If there were in fact any real intention behind an alien craft following the path of 3I/ATLAS, Loeb argues it would take minimal force to deliver missiles or some alien weapons to nearby planets like Venus, Mars, or Jupiter. Earth could very well be on their radar too, although thankfully, we haven’t had any armored underground experience yet—save a few harmless meteor fragments that have landed here.
“In all likelihood, 3I/ATLAS is a natural interstellar object, most likely a comet, and we await more astronomical data to confirm this assumption,” noted Loeb. Yet, through a lens of curiosity and freedom from bias, the insights in our discussion might be applicable to the many interstellar items we’ll discover in the coming years.
