Science NewsNation 3I/ATLAS ‘most likely natural,’ Harvard professor concedes

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(NewsNation) — Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb appears to be walking back his attention-grabbing theory that an interstellar object known as 3I/ATLAS could be some sort of alien technology sent to spy on Earth.

Much of the scientific community has said 3I/ATLAS is merely a comet, albeit a large one with unusual properties. The object reached its closest point to the Earth this week — if 170 million miles can be considered close — and was last seen heading out into space beyond the solar system.

“So far, so good,” Loeb told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Monday. “3I/ATLAS did not maneuver or display any unusual activity when it came closest to Earth.”

Astrophysicist’s latest 3I/ATLAS theory: It’s interested in Jupiter

Loeb says the object’s anomalous qualities, including a jet pointing toward the sun, are still worth studying before 3I/ATLAS is gone in a few months. But as to whether 3I/ATLAS is alien tech, the scientist isn’t pushing so hard.

“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,” he said.

Scientist estimates age of 3I/ATLAS

Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku agrees that 3I/ATLAS has unique features, but consider the object’s age, he told NewsNation earlier this year.

He said the interstellar object is different from other comets humans have observed, which have ranged in age from 3 billion to 4 billion years old.

“This is a very old object, perhaps 7 billion years old,” Kaku said of 3I/ATLAS. “That’s why, for example, the nickel content of the comet is off scale. Its chemical composition is not what an ordinary comet should be, and that, I think, is because over 7 billion years it’s had plenty of time to accumulate different gases, different elements, different kinds of environments that it goes into.

“I think that explains a lot of the mystery behind the comet.”

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