NASA has responded to claims from scientists warning that a "hostile alien threat" could soon attack Earth, reassuring everyone that our planet is safe — for now.
Recently, an interstellar object dubbed 3I/ATLAS was discovered speeding towards our solar system at a jaw-dropping 140,000 mph. While NASA quickly classified it as a comet, a team of scientists from Harvard — including astrophysicist Avi Loeb — raised eyebrows with their theory that this might actually be something far more sinister: a potentially intelligent alien spacecraft with unknown intentions.
Loeb, alongside fellow researchers Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl, published a controversial paper arguing that 3I/ATLAS could exhibit signs of intelligent control. The scientists suggest the object’s peculiar trajectory, particularly its unusual non-gravitational acceleration without visible cometary outgassing, is a red flag that this might not be a natural comet at all.
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Loeb and his colleagues wrote: The hypothesis in question is that [3I/ATLAS] is a technological artifact, and furthermore has active intelligence". They further speculated that, if true, the alien craft's intentions might be either "entirely benign" or "malign," and ominously noted that an attack could happen within months if the latter proved true.
According to Loeb’s team, the trajectory of 3I/ATLAS seems deliberately crafted to evade detailed observation by Earth's telescopes, hinting at strategic intelligence behind its movements. Even more suspiciously, they noted the object's "low retrograde tilt" would make human attempts to intercept or study it closely extremely challenging, allowing it to slip past our defences with ease.
But NASA has quickly stepped in to calm any fears, firmly rejecting the alien theory. Paul Chodas, director of NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies, insisted the object was natural and posed absolutely no threat to Earth. NASA confirmed 3I/ATLAS was first spotted on 1 July, roughly 420 million miles away, and while it is approaching our solar system, it will still safely bypass Earth by a huge margin of about 170 million miles.
When speaking to AP News, Chodas described 3I/ATLAS as an object "travelling through space for hundreds of millions of year," noting NASA scientists had long expected to encounter such interstellar visitors. "We've been expecting to see interstellar objects for decades, frankly, and finally we're seeing them," he said.
The NASA official also directly addressed the alien claim, emphasising the object is "not artificial" and clarifying: "A visitor from another solar system, even though it's natural – it's not artificial, don't get excited because some people do."
With NASA confidently downplaying fears of an alien invasion, the real excitement now turns to further understanding this mysterious visitor as it continues its epic journey through our solar system.