3I/Atlas (pronounced to sound like, three eye Atlas) is reportedly a comet-like object that has recently entered our solar system, possibly from another one. It represents the third recorded detection ever of an intruding interstellar object. The first was Oumuamua in October of 2017. The second is 2I/Borisov (two eye Borisov) seen first in August 2019, and which is still inside our solar system. Peculiarly, both most recent objects will reach their closest approaches to the sun in November 2025, an extremely unlikely coincidence.
Questions abound, and exotic theories are flourishing. The most interesting, but least likely, theory is that either or both of them are spacecraft from elsewhere in the galaxy. The exotic theory is supported by the physics of 3I/Atlas, which has astonished scientists. Variously observed characteristics are being reported, including atypical outgassing and the chemical contents thereof. It is possible that such bizarre chemistry could be common in, from wherever 3I/Atlas originated, or that billions of years in transit between stars could result in such properties.
Unfortunately, remote possibilities are what unscientific popularizers thrive upon. Some online videos purport to show Dr. Michio Kaku offering a mix of science and speculation on the topic. They seem pretty clearly to be produced by, or with, artificial intelligence. Bing’s A.I. chatbot, Copilot, responds to that suspicion with several strong reasons in support of it. Ironically, A.I. can be used to detect A.I. fakes.
Having discussed the dismal realities, let us ask imaginatively, what would we see, if some galactic civilization were to send a mission to arrive in our solar system? Would we see something as gigantic as the city-sized 3I/Atlas?
Anything is possible within the limits of physics, but we have a tendency to think that alien technology would have to be like ours, only with whiz-bang spectacular gadgets attached. Think Star Wars, or Buck Rogers. Similarity, or even comparability, however, is not necessarily going to be the case at all.
That is because science itself gives us hints that there are important properties of space-time and energy-mass which are beyond our present-day knowledge. Dark matter and dark energy are only two examples. Whatever they are, these two have been used to explain otherwise unexplainable observations that seem impossible, such as the peculiar motions of stars and galaxies.
One would think that any aliens will have discovered fundamentals of physics of which we know nothing, and that they can use them to travel faster than light, which we presently deem to be forever impossible, not because of engineering, but because within nature itself there may be absolute barriers. If so, then the aliens have to travel the old-fashioned way, one mile of track at a time. But if nature imposes no barrier against it, if faster than light travel is possible, then 3I/Atlas would be the most primitive space ship in the galaxy, produced by a long-since vanished civilization.
For no particular reason, I suspect that the aliens, if any exist, have technologies with which they can leap across light years with relative ease. If they can do that, then they can appear to us to be magical. They don’t need us; they have no fear of us.
Therefore, they will not arrive in a 3I/Atlas, no more so than in a Greyhound bus. We won’t see them coming, nor know when they arrive.
That presents a paradox, however, because UFO sightings by unimpeachable observers are a fact; they are seeing something real. So far, what they see seems undefinable. The publicly available information about UFOs, when taken as a whole, makes no sense.
And so far, there are features of 3I/Atlas that do not yet make sense, either.
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