Neil deGrasse Tyson has addressed growing speculation that mysterious interstellar objects such as 3I/ATLAS might be evidence of alien technology, and while he admits the possibility, he insists it’s the last option on his list.
3I/ATLAS, first detected earlier this year, is only the third known object to pass through our solar system from another star system. Unlike comets or asteroids bound by the Sun’s gravity, it entered and will eventually leave entirely. Its unusual brightness and rotation rate don’t perfectly match current models, adding to the intrigue and fueling theories that it could be an alien probe.
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The interstellar object has raised eyebrows due to a few uncanny traits, most notably its brightness. The object appears to emit its own light, rather than merely reflecting sunlight, suggesting its nucleus may be actively glowing. If true, this glow could come from a nuclear-powered source or engine, possibly even of alien origin.
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Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has even floated a thought experiment about 3I/ATLAS, drawing from the “dark forest hypothesis,” which imagines alien civilizations deliberately hiding from one another in a dangerous galaxy.
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Loeb noted that 3I/ATLAS’s unusual traits could mirror the kind of signs a genuine starship might give off if it were ever passing through our solar system. If an alien craft were mimicking 3I/ATLAS’s path, it could theoretically use only small propulsion adjustments to send projectiles or other payloads toward neighboring planets like Venus or Mars.
NASA3I/ATLAS has baffled scientists and sparked numerous alien theories.
Neil deGrasse Tyson shoots down alien starship 3I/ATLAS theories
In his StarTalk YouTube channel, the astrophysicist compared today’s alien theories to the old “God of the gaps” mindset, where people filled in what they didn’t understand with divine explanations. “We live in a time where God of the gaps has been supplanted by Alien of the gaps,” Tyson said, noting how quickly some leap to extraterrestrials.
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Tyson pointed to recent discoveries of three confirmed interstellar visitors, including 2017’s famous ‘Oumuamua. These objects didn’t behave exactly as expected, showing odd rotations, brightness, or unexplained deviations in trajectory.
“Whatever anomalous behavior these objects exhibit, I’m delighted they’re finally in the catalog and we’ll figure it out one day,” he said.
Still, Tyson cautioned against jumping to conclusions. “‘Is it aliens? That could be,’” he said. “Like I said, it’s not my first thought. I promise you it will be my last thought, but it’s in the list.”
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Instead, he argued the scientific approach requires more data, more peer review, and less speculation. To Tyson, unusual interstellar rocks are more likely to represent a new class of natural object that we just don’t have info about than proof of extraterrestrials. “It’s easier for me to think this is a new kind of object that requires way more study than we’ve given it thus far than to say aliens did it,” he explained.
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That doesn’t mean he’s closing the door completely. “Maybe,” Tyson admitted when pondering if aliens could be coming to visit Earth. But based on history, he sees that outcome as “unlikely” and more like something out of a science fiction movie.
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For now, the astrophysicist is urging curiosity over certainty: keep looking up, but don’t let “alien of the gaps” thinking replace scientific inquiry. In any case, an old expression still rings true here: The truth is out there.