Don’t Panic, 3I/ATLAS is Coming

The trajectory of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, photo NASA/JPL-Caltech

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“Piensas mal y atinaras.”
— Old Mexican proverb

By Phil Hall

While films like Don’t Look Up! highlighted the danger of accidental asteroid impacts, a more disturbing possibility exists: intentional planetary bombardment. An interstellar object traveling at 60 km/s, if artificially directed, could serve as the ultimate planet-killer. Unlike random cosmic collisions, such an impact would represent a deliberate extinction event—one we might detect too late to prevent. On the other hand, all that nonsense about the arrival of the planet smasher Niburu was going viral in 2011. On the Camino de Santiago some New Age acolytes gave me a copy of Zecharia Sitchin’s musings. After reading it for ten minutes I stood up, opened my mouth and swallowed.

‘Relax everyone, you’re safe now. I’ve just swallowed Niburu.’

But on July 1, 2025, astronomers detected 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object approaching the inner Solar System at 60 km/s. As with previous interstellar visitors like ‘Oumuamua, its anomalous characteristics immediately raised questions. Professor Avi Loeb, known for his work on potential artificial origins of interstellar objects (Loeb, 2021), noted that if 3I/ATLAS demonstrated unusual trajectory adjustments or composition, it might deserve further investigation as a potential artificial object. In a recent article he suggested sending out the near defunct Juno Spacecraft to intercept the interstellar intruder.

Anomalous Features of 3I/ATLAS

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Avi Loeb has pointed out eight highly unusual characteristics of this interstellar visitor.

First, its trajectory is eerily aligned with the Solar System’s orbital plane—moving almost perfectly along the same flat plane as Earth and the other planets, but in retrograde motion. The odds of this happening naturally are a mere 0.2%, akin to flipping a coin and getting heads nine times in a row.

Second: Its sheer size defies statistical expectations. If it’s a natural asteroid, it measures roughly 12 km in diameter—an anomaly for an interstellar object. The probability of encountering such a massive visitor is comparable to finding a single specific grain of sand on all of Earth’s beaches.

Third, While comets speed up due to outgassing, 3I/ATLAS shows no visible tail or emissions.

Fourth, its path involves unnervingly precise close passes by Venus, Mars, and Jupiter—threading a cosmic needle with a random chance of just 0.005% (1 in 20,000).

Fifth, its perihelion—the point closest to the Sun—coincides with a moment when Earth’s view is obstructed by the Sun itself. If this were an alien probe, it would be the perfect opportunity to execute an undetected course correction or braking maneuver.

Sixth, its position is ideal for a reverse Oberth maneuver, a theoretical spaceflight technique where a craft fires its engines near a star to efficiently decelerate. If 3I/ATLAS were artificial, it could use this method to remain in our Solar System.

Seventh, its approach angle made early detection nearly impossible—almost as if it were designed to evade observation until the last moment.

Eighth, with minimal adjustments, its trajectory could easily intercept Jupiter or Mars after its solar swing. If intentional, this might suggest a deliberate reconnaissance mission.

Natural or Artificial?

The critical distinction lies in its behavior. Natural comets follow predictable gravitational paths. To repeat, as Loeb stated, “An object that changes trajectory to enter the inner Solar System would immediately suggest non-gravitational forces at work—whether natural outgassing or something more deliberate” (Loeb, 2021). While current data remains inconclusive, the mere possibility demands serious consideration.

Niburu After All?

The destructive power of a 12 km object traveling at 60 km/s is well-documented. Collins et al. (2005) modeled these impacts. The energy released is multiples greater than the energy released by the Chicxulub asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. A land impact would excavate a 500 km crater, while an ocean strike would generate mega-tsunamis kilometers high, obliterating coastal cities within hours.

The aftermath would be catastrophic: Blast waves would flatten continents. There would be global earthquakes and firestorms. Sunlight-blocking dust would lower temperatures by 10-20°C for decades, triggering an irreversible winter (Toon et al., 1997). The ozone layer would be destroyed, exposing all life to lethal cosmic and solar radiation. 90% of all species would go extinct.

The Dark Forest Hypothesis

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This scenario aligns with Liu Cixin’s Dark Forest Hypothesis (2008), which posits that advanced civilizations remain silent to avoid annihilation. The logic is grim but rational: All life competes for finite resources. Trusting other civilizations is perilous. Pre-emptive strikes may be the only survival strategy.

Humanity, however, has broken this silence. Since the 1974 Arecibo Message, we’ve actively broadcast our presence. Even unintentional radio and TV leakage has announced Earth’s location for nearly a century. As Loeb warns, “Our assumption of alien benevolence reflects anthropocentrism, not evidence” (Loeb, 2021).

We exist in a precarious transitional phase—advanced enough to alter our planet and signal our existence, yet too primitive to defend against existential threats.

Conclusion

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Of course, 3I/ATLAS has not yet been confirmed as artificial—much less hostile. If it were, given its interstellar journey, it’s unlikely to have been designed to target Earth’s current biosphere. After all, complex life didn’t exist when it began its voyage billions of years ago.

Yet, as Loeb notes, if it is artificial we cannot truly know its age. It arrived from the direction of the galactic center, only altering course toward the inner planets 8,000 years ago—coinciding with the dawn of human civilization.

The possibility of a planet-killing / alien visitation / alien fly-by black swan event, however remote, must be taken seriously due to its catastrophic potential. If 3I/ATLAS were an artificial impactor, we would have roughly 100 days until collision—and no means to stop it.

Fortunately, answers may soon arrive. The James Webb Space Telescope and perhaps (if Avi Loeb gets his way) the Juno Spacecraft) will soon turn their gaze toward 3I/ATLAS as it nears. Until then, we wait.

DON’T PANIC!

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References

Brin, D. (1983). “The Great Silence: The Controversy Concerning Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life.” Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 24, 283–309.

Collins, G. S., et al. (2005). “Earth Impact Effects Program.” Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 40(6), 817-840.

Liu, C. (2008). The Dark Forest. Tor Books.

Loeb, A. (2021). Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Loeb, Avi. 2025. “Is 3I Atlas a Comet or Something Else?” Medium, July 8, 2025.

Toon, O. B., et al. (1997). “Environmental Perturbations Caused by the Impacts of Asteroids and Comets.” Reviews of Geophysics, 35(1), 41-78.

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Phil Hall was born into an ANC family in South Africa. The family was forced into exile in 1963 after his mother was imprisoned and his father banned. They relocated to East Africa, where his parents continued their activism and journalism. In 1975, after a period living in India, they journeyed overland back to the UK, eventually settling in Brighton.

Phil pursued a broad education, studying Russian, Spanish, politics, economics, literature, linguistics, and English grammar and phonology. His path led him to live and study in Spain, the USSR (in Ukraine), and later in Mexico, where he married and started a family. Over the next decade, Phil and his partner balanced activism with work before relocating to the UK—a move initially intended to be permanent.

However, professional opportunities took him to Saudi Arabia and then the UAE, where he spent ten years before returning to the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in Britain, he founded Ars Notoria Magazine and, alongside fellow humane socialist Paul Halas, launched AN Editions, a small venture dedicated to publishing thoughtful, progressive and exciting new books.