Harvard scientist believes interstellar comet could be alien craft, "We should put all possibilities on the table"
Professor Avi Loeb said there are clear signs that the comet known as "3I/ATLAS" could be an alien craft.
"We should put all possibilities on the table that it's a rock, a comet, or something else until we get the evidence, the data that will tell us what it is," Loeb said in an interview with WBZ-TV's Courtney Cole.
Professor Loeb and his team say the interstellar object is on an extremely unusual course for a comet that will take it close Venus, Mars and Jupiter.
Loeb said that object appears to be "intelligently" directed and if it is alien, the world should prepare.
"I think that when we have a blind date from a visitor from another star, all bets are off," said Loeb. "We shouldn't assume anything, and we should assess the risk given the data that we have."
Loeb said the risk should be assessed using something like the Richter scale for earthquakes.
"Zero would be a natural object like a comet," Loeb said. "Ten would be an object that maneuvers as if it has an engine that is definitely technological, and then there should be some policymakers deciding how to respond to that."
"We see a lot of houses on the cosmic street that look just like ours, analogs of the Earth's sun system," Loeb said. "And I think it's very arrogant of us to assume that they don't have residents."
Professor Loeb says the object will pass closest to the sun on October 29.
According to NASA, Comet 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth and will remain far away.
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