A team of researchers has put forward a theory suggesting that a ‘possibly hostile’ extraterrestrial threat might pose a risk to Earth before the year concludes.
According to a recent study, a peculiar object from another galaxy could potentially be an alien spacecraft targeting Earth, with a potential strike as early as November.
The scientists remarked in their July 16 paper on arXiv that if their hypothesis is accurate, it could result in catastrophic consequences for humanity: “The consequences, should the hypothesis turn out to be correct, could potentially be dire for humanity.”
Named 3I/ATLAS, this unusual ‘interstellar interloper’ was detected on July 1, moving toward the sun at speeds exceeding 130,000 mph, as reported by Live Science.
Within a day of this discovery, further observations indicated that the object might be a massive comet, measuring around 15 miles in diameter, which is larger than the Manhattan borough in New York City.
In contrast, the researchers in the new study propose that extraterrestrials could be responsible for the enigma, suggesting that it might be ‘technological’ spyware in disguise.
This study gains attention as Avi Loeb, a well-known Harvard astrophysicist with expertise in extraterrestrial objects and alien existence, is involved, according to The New York Post.
Loeb became famous for his 2017 hypothesis that the interstellar object ʻOumuamua could be a reconnaissance probe from an alien civilization, due to its unusual form and velocity.
Avi Loeb, along with Adam Hibbered and Adam Crowl from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies in London, argue that 31/ATLAS displays similar unusual characteristics that might indicate alien origins.
They pointed out that the object’s speed, which surpasses that of Oumuamua and other similar bodies, along with its unusual angle of entry into our solar system, suggests it might have ‘various benefits to an extraterrestrial intelligence’.
Loeb explained in a Medium post: “3I/ATLAS achieves perihelion on the opposite side of the Sun relative to Earth. This could be intentional to avoid detailed observations from Earth-based telescopes when the object is brightest or when gadgets are sent to Earth from that hidden vantage point.”
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He further elaborated: “It is therefore impractical for earthlings to land on 3I/ATLAS at closest approach by boarding chemical rockets, since our best rockets reach at most a third of that speed.”
He also speculates that the object’s trajectory, which nears Jupiter, Mars, and Venus, might lead to its arrival in late November or early December of 2025.
If Loeb’s assertion that the object is a ‘technological artifact’ holds true, it could necessitate defensive measures in response to a potential attack on Earth.
Nevertheless, Samantha Lawler, an astronomer specializing in solar system dynamics at the University of Regina in Canada, disagrees with this theory. She asserts: “All evidence points to this being an ordinary comet that was ejected from another solar system, just as countless billions of comets have been ejected from our own solar system.”
Even Loeb acknowledges the uncertainty of his theory, admitting that the ‘most likely outcome will be that 3I/ATLAS is a completely natural interstellar object, probably a comet’.