Mysterious interstellar object aimed at Earth called 'unnatural'

Mysterious interstellar object aimed at Earth is 'unnatural', with some scientists ruling out comet theory. The appearance of a mysterious interstellar object has reignited debate about whether extraterrestrial technology could be lurking in our solar system.

NASA discovered the object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, on July 1, sparking a flurry of scientific research to determine its origin, the Daily Mail recalls. While more than 200 researchers have concluded it is likely a comet, Harvard physicist Avi Loeb cast doubt on a recently published preliminary report, pointing out one glaring omission: 3I/ATLAS has no visible tail.

"There have been claims of a tail," Loeb notes, "but since 3I/ATLAS is accelerating and its current size is only slightly larger than the angular resolution of ground-based telescopes, it is not easy to avoid a false elongation of the image due to the object's motion."

Avi Loeb also questioned the object's unusual lack of gas emissions and its precise retrograde trajectory, which is suspiciously consistent with the inner solar system.

The physicist has developed what he calls the "Loeb scale," a ranking system for assessing the likelihood of an object being artificial, and gave 3I/ATLAS a six out of ten. This suggests it was most likely engineered, although he stressed that this assessment could change as more data comes in.

Among his more provocative theories, Loeb suggested that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien mothership releasing small probes to intercept Earth: "A more likely scenario from an engineering perspective involves launching a mothership that releases mini-probes that perform a reverse Oberth maneuver to slow down at perihelion and intercept Earth."

This type of maneuver uses the gravitational pull of the Sun at its closest approach to an object to effectively adjust its trajectory, allowing the probes to reach Earth without a lot of fuel, the Daily Mail explains.

According to Loeb, these hypothetical probes could arrive between November 21 and December 5, 2025, based on 3I/ATLAS's expected position behind the Sun in October, which is an ideal period for a stealthy approach. "An object could come to save us or destroy us," the scientist reasons. "We'd better be prepared for both options and check whether all interstellar objects are rocks."

Chris Lintott, an astronomer at Oxford University, dismissed Loeb's theory as "nonsense on stilts", calling it "an insult to the exciting work being done to understand this object".

However, Loeb insists that his analysis is based on observational data.

His latest paper, based on ground-based telescope data obtained between July 2 and 29, reports the discovery of reddening colors in 3I/ATLAS, which are typically interpreted as surface dust or organic compounds. The author noted that spectroscopic data from this and three previous studies show no evidence of atomic or molecular gas in the coma, which is typically seen in comets. While the reddening could indicate dust, it could also mean that the object simply has a naturally red surface, much like D-type asteroids or other ancient space rocks.

"Continued monitoring around perihelion is necessary to track changes in activity and color," the study concludes, "which will provide insight into the evolution of interstellar materials under solar radiation."

Loeb has authored four scientific papers on 3I/ATLAS and recently proposed using NASA's Juno spacecraft to intercept an object near Jupiter in 2026, calling it a rare opportunity for "interstellar archaeology." He also believes governments should already be forming task forces that include scientists, politicians, and even psychologists to determine how to respond and how to communicate the news to the public without causing panic.

If 3I/ATLAS is more than just a space rock, he said, Earth is unfortunately not ready. "A guest," he warned, "is already in our backyard."

And if the object turns out to be artificial, Loeb acknowledged that there’s little humanity can do. At nearly 60 miles per second relative to Earth, it’s moving too fast for any of our current rockets to reach. “If the hypothesis that 3I/ATLAS is a technological artifact is confirmed, there are two possibilities: either its intentions are entirely benign, or they are malevolent,” Loeb warned. “In the former case, humanity can only wait and welcome this interstellar messenger with open arms. It’s the latter scenario that is of grave concern.”

The scientist added that since the second possibility has serious consequences, we can use the idea behind Pascal's Wager. "Blaise Pascal argued that it is wiser to believe in God because the potential benefits of believing are much greater than the losses if you are wrong," Loeb explained. "Similarly, in our case, it makes sense to warn humanity about the danger posed by 3I/ATLAS, even if it turns out to be just a theory. The cost of not warning could be much higher than the cost of being wrong."