Avi Loeb on how he’ll determine if comet 3I/ATLAS is ‘alien tech’

(NewsNation) — In just a matter of weeks, the unique interstellar comet known as 3I/ATLAS is expected to pass closest to the sun between the orbits of Mars and Earth.

Avi Loeb, a Harvard University astrophysicist, has suggested 3I/ATLAS is some alien technology sent here from another solar system. This past weekend, he acknowledged the object could be on a mission to release “miniprobes” that could invade Earth.

Loeb told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” that those miniprobes can bring about two possibilities when answering if the object does have “alien tech.”

“If it’s a technological object, then it might maneuver itself,” he said. However, Loeb and his fellow scientists haven’t seen such a maneuver so far.

So what’s the other possibility?

“The other possibility is that it may release some other objects that reach the planets, and it will continue along its course to the next star,” Loeb explains. “And we just need to keep our eyes on the ball.”

“But it may well be just a rock which has some ice on the surface that evaporates, in which case we will say it’s natural.”

3I/ATLAS ranges in the middle of Loeb’s new scale

To determine whether the 3I/ATLAS is a technological or natural object, Loeb created a new scale that goes from zero to 10.

Loeb says he ranked the 3I/ATLAS at a four. Why a four? The inferred size of the object was huge.

“It was between 20 and 46 kilometers, unless there is a dense cloud of dust around it that is scattering sunlight,” he added.

“This is an object, if that is the size of it, that is a million times more massive than the previous interstellar objects we’ve seen, and that’s quite unlikely. There is not enough material in interstellar space.”

3I/ATLAS ‘alien tech’ theory stems from size

Loeb acknowledged that his “alien tech” theory is supported by the size of the 3I/ATLAS, implying the object might be more than just a comet.

“That’s one aspect, and the second is that the trajectory is aligned with the plane of the planets around the sun,” he said. “So, we should be able to tell how much light is reflected off the object, and from that, infer its size.”

Loeb noted that there already is a camera called “High Rise” on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that can image the object with a pixel resolution of 30 kilometers.

The 3I/ATLAS is expected to pass Mars on Oct. 3.