Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Reaches Critical Point, Testing Alien Spacecraft Theories
WASHINGTON – Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is nearing perihelion – its closest approach to the Sun – on October 29, presenting a crucial opportunity to evaluate the controversial hypothesis that it may be an alien spacecraft. While scientists overwhelmingly believe 3I/ATLAS is a natural comet, the object’s unusual properties have fueled speculation about artificial origins.
Astronomer Avi Loeb, a leading proponent of the alien spacecraft theory, notes the object “behaves like a comet,” but possesses “engaging properties that are a little bit different from our solar system comets.” He suggests a potential scenario involving a “mothership that releases mini-probes which perform a reverse Oberth maneuver to slow down at perihelion and intercept Earth, taking advantage of the Sun’s gravitational assist.” Loeb calculates that such a maneuver would require a change in angular momentum of approximately (0.36 au)*(68 km/s), where 0.36 au represents the orbital radius change needed to reach Earth’s distance from the Sun, and 68 kilometers per second is 3I/ATLAS’s speed at perihelion. He adds that a mini-probe could possibly reach Earth “within a few months after perihelion.”
If 3I/ATLAS were an artificial construct, a maneuver would be detectable through unexpected changes in its trajectory and mass, potentially through the ejection of mini-probes. However, if it is a natural comet, as most scientists predict, its path should continue largely unchanged, though some alterations are expected due to increased solar radiation during its closest approach.
“As of now, 3I/ATLAS appears most likely to be a natural comet,” Loeb writes in a recent blog post, but stresses the importance of considering the possibility of an Oberth maneuver, calling it a “black swan event with a small probability, as of its huge implications for humanity.”
Organizations like SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and NASA have consistently dismissed the alien spacecraft hypothesis, citing the simpler explanation of an interstellar comet. They anticipate that 3I/ATLAS will continue on its trajectory out of the Solar System after perihelion, effectively disproving the more extraordinary claims.
