3I/ATLAS Sparks Alien Fever Again: Scientists Refuse to Rule Out Intelligent Origin

The cosmos is typically a predictable dance of gravity and orbits, but occasionally, a visitor crashes the party with such erratic behaviour that it forces astronomers to question everything they know about the solar neighbourhood. In July, the silence of deep space was punctuated by an anomaly detected by a survey telescope in Chile.

Astronomers call it 3I/ATLAS, and it is only the third time we've ever caught a visitor like this cruising through our cosmic backyard. Naturally, its arrival generated a heated debate. Most scientists are betting it's just a natural comet with an icy core and a dusty tail, but no one is quite ready to rule out the idea that it might be artificial completely.

The Green Bank Telescope Hunts for Technosignatures

As the object raced towards its closest encounter with Earth, cutting the distance to a mere 167 million miles on December 19, the scientific community mobilised. The Breakthrough Listen project, a premier global initiative dedicated to finding signs of intelligent life, turned its attention to the visitor. They deployed the Green Bank Telescope, the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope, to listen for any electronic whispers that might emanate from the object.

The goal was straightforward yet ambitious: to detect any transmission that would indicate technology rather than geology. If 3I/ATLAS were a probe, as some theoretical models ventured, it might be communicating with its point of origin. The massive dish scanned the object the day prior to its closest approach, hoping to catch a stray signal in the radio spectrum that would rewrite human history.

'No Artificial Radio Emission Detected'

The results of this high-stakes listening session were detailed in a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper. The findings were sobering for those hoping for a close encounter. The telescope failed to detect any 'candidate signals' coming from the object. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) confirmed the lack of evidence on its website.

'No artificial radio emission localised to 3I/ATLAS was detected,' the institute noted. The data gathered during the observation window suggests that the object is silent, cold, and likely lifeless. ' In summary, 3I/ATLAS continues to behave as expected from natural astrophysical processes,' SETI stated.

Despite the lack of alien signals, the researchers emphasised that the pursuit of knowledge was far from wasted. They noted that 'it remains an extremely interesting target for observation given the overall rarity of interstellar objects.'

Harvard Astronomer Still Points to 'Anomalies'

While the radio silence is a blow to the technological theory, it has not silenced the debate entirely. Harvard physicist Avi Loeb continues to scrutinise the visitor for deviations that standard physics cannot easily explain. He has painstakingly documented what he terms 'anomalies' in the object's behaviour and appearance. These include its suspected large size and a trajectory that seems remarkably fine-tuned, bringing it within tens of millions of miles of major planets like Mars, Venus, and Jupiter.

Loeb has developed a metric known as the 'Loeb scale' to assess the likelihood ofinterstellar objects being artificial. On this scale, zero represents a natural rock, while ten signifies confirmed alien technology. Shortly after discovery, Loeb rated 3I/ATLAS as a four. He has declined to adjust this ranking until 'new data from the period bracketing its closest approach to Earth is publicly released and analysed.'

Why an Alien Probe Might Remain Silent

The Breakthrough Listen paper acknowledges the current lack of proof. 'There is currently no evidence to suggest that [interstellar objects] are anything other than natural astrophysical objects,' the researchers wrote. Yet, they offered a caveat: 'However, given the small number of such objects known (only three to date) and the plausibility of interstellar probes as a technosignature, thorough study is warranted.'

Sceptics argue that if this were an alien craft, it would likely be broadcasting, especially given Earth's loud radio footprint. The silence reinforces the theory that 3I/ATLAS is merely a massive snowball of carbon dioxide and water ice. However, until the full dataset from its closest approach is analysed—a process that could take months—the door remains slightly ajar.