3I/ATLAS Object Likely a Natural Comet, Says Harvard's Avi Loeb — Alien Fears Eased

Harvard professor and astrophysicist Avi Loeb is retracting his speculations that comet 3I/ATLAS could be 'alien tech,' and says that it is 'most likely natural.'

In a News Nation report, Loeb says in the interview, 'At this point, given all the data that we have, I would agree that it's most likely natural, but there are still a lot of things we don't understand about it.'

What is 3I/ATLAS?

According to NASA, comet 3I/ATLAS, categorised as interstellar by astronomers, originates from outside of our solar system, just casually 'passing through our celestial neighbourhood.'

The first 3I/ATLAS sighting was reported in July by the NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile. ATLAS stands for Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System.

One of the key reasons why 3I/ATLAS' behaviour has been observed closely is Dr Avi Loeb's assumption that 3I/ATLAS may be an alien spacecraft. The New York Post has reported Dr Loeb citing the movement of comet 3I/ATLAS as 'anomalous' as it reached its closest approach to the sun.

University of Washington Center for an Informed Public called Dr Avi Loeb as 'an outspoken advocate of the alien hypothesis,' citing his 'Oumuamua report. On the other hand, scientists have concluded that 3I/ATLAS is behaving like a comet.

Clarification on Medium

Dr. Avi Loeb took to a blog post on Medium to clarify his 3I/ATLAS alien classification views. In his post, he said, 'In a recent interview on NewsNation, I was asked by Elizabeth Vargas to clarify my standpoint about the nature of 3I/ATLAS. In response, I repeated what I said before — that 3I/ATLAS is most likely a natural object. This response was highlighted as news but it is not so.'

He also reiterates that he 'expressed the same standpoint' in July of this year, where, when a reporter asked him whether or not it is a natural comet, he responded, '3I/ATLAS is most likely a comet of natural origin, but there are 8 anomalies that endow it with a rank of 4 on the Loeb scale.'

During the interview, Dr Loeb told Elizabeth Vargas Reports, 'So far, so good. 3I/ATLAS did not manoeuvre or display any unusual activity when it came closest to Earth.' News Nation also pointed out Dr Loeb's statement that the bizarre qualities of comet 3I/ATLAS are still worth looking into, and that Dr Loeb isn't keen on pushing the 'alien technology' assumption.

In November, Life Science published that NASA had broken its silence amid alien life speculations via much-anticipated new 3I/ATLAS images, confirming that the 'visitor' is a natural space object.

The Comet 3I/ATLAS Saga

Comet 3I/ATLAS has been the most sensational and remarkable story our astronomers have covered to date, due to its interstellar origins. As such, it has been studied closely, not just because of assumptions about 'alien tech,' but also because of the intriguing characteristics the comet has been displaying.

Now with evidence to strongly refute any assumption of alien tech, and as 3I/ATLAS makes its journey into interstellar space, the controversial 'visitor' has allowed the public and the astronomers alike a reminder of how widely the scope of the galaxy can be, and how far scientific studies can support or refute claims and studies.