New Studies Can Explain Why Comet 3I/Atlas Isn't an Alien (Probably)
upstart writes:
New Studies Can Explain Why Comet 3I/Atlas Isn't An Alien (Probably):
When some scientists and conspiracy theorists saw the strange trajectory of the space object3I/ATLAS, some of them thought one thing: aliens. With a bizarre shape, an unusually precise trajectory, and unpredictable acceleration patterns, several observers believed 3I/ATLAS was of extraterrestrial design. But a new paper might provide some much needed clues about the origins of this strange object. Spoiler alert: It likely isn't an alien.
Submitted to Research Notes of the AAS, the paperlikens the behavior of 3I/ATLAS to that of other comets zooming through our solar system, linking its abnormal flight patterns to a phenomenon called outgassing, which can change speed, spin, and orbit trajectory. According to the paper's author Marshall Eubanks, the team measured the objects non-gravitational acceleration through two interplanetary spacecraft. The results, according to Eubanks, showed that the object followed typical patterns of other comets flying through our solar system.
The paper largely debunks months of speculation, during whicha group of Harvard astrophysicists speculated that3I/ATLAS might be a piece of alien technology. Avi Loeb, a Harvard astrophysicist, even discussed the possibility on the Joe Rogan podcast after releasing a draft paper on the subject in July 2025. [...]
[...] Speculation that3I/ATLAS could be an interplanetary, alien visitor were rooted in these highly unique characteristics, especially its unique flight pattern.According to Avi Loeb's paper-titled "Is the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Alien Technology?" - the comet's trajectory is highly improbable, taking a route that passes strangely close to Venus, Jupiter, and Mars, which Loeb's team determined would only occur 0.005% of the time. Further unlikely irregularities, such as its unique retrograde orbital plane and aperihelion, or point in which the comet is closest to the sun, that conveniently occurs when Earth is on the other side, obstructing it from view, testified to Loeb's theory of interstellar travel. Written largely as a theoretical exercise, the paper explored the popular "Dark Forest" theory, in which human's lack of extraterrestrial evidence is an intentional strategy by hostile, silent intergalactic neighbors. With this assumption, Loeb's team hypothesized that the object's unique properties, including its obstructed perihelion, pointed towards the possibility of an alien species conducting a clandestine mission within our solar system.
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