What If 3I/ATLAS Was Engineered, Not Natural?
1. Setting the Stage
Imagine drifting through the cold darkness of interstellar space. Suddenly, a strange object slips into our solar system. Astronomers name it 3I/ATLAS — the third known interstellar visitor after `Oumuamua and Borisov.
It looks like a comet. It behaves like one. But… what if it isn’t entirely natural?
2. A Thought Experiment
Some scientists, like Avi Loeb of Harvard, have previously suggested that `Oumuamua could have been engineered — perhaps a fragment of alien technology.
With 3I/ATLAS, the same question arises:
Could its unusual brightness fluctuations be the signature of designed surfaces rather than ice and dust?
Could its strange trajectory reveal propulsion, not just gravity?