Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS: Scientists Announce Results for Alien Signals
- By Web Desk -
- Jan 05, 2026
A hunt for signs of alien technology on the rare interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS has come up empty, according to researchers from the Breakthrough Listen initiative.
In a campaign to detect “technosignatures”—radio signals that would indicate intelligent life—the team reported no credible transmissions coming from the comet, even down to the faint 100-milliwatt level.
3I/ATLAS is significant because it is a rare visitor from outside our solar system, offering a limited window for scientific scrutiny. First detected in July 2025 by the NASA-funded ATLAS survey in Chile, the object passed Earth at a safe distance of approximately 270 million km (170 million miles).
Speculation about the object’s nature spiked after Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb highlighted unusual features in Hubble images. In a Medium post, Loeb questioned whether the comet’s long, sunward “anti-tail” and three-pronged inner jet pattern suggested an artificial origin rather than typical cometary activity.
To test these theories, the Green Bank Telescope observed the object for five hours on December 18. Observers used an “on-off” switching method to filter out interference from Earth-based satellites and aircraft.
Technosignatures typically appear as narrowband radio signals, distinct spikes in frequency rarely found in nature. However, the scan revealed nothing.
The episode mirrors the frenzy surrounding ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. Despite the speculation, NASA officials maintain that the object is natural.
“This object is a comet,” NASA associate administrator Amit Kshatriya stated during a November briefing, citing its trajectory and behavior.
While the Green Bank observations provide a strong snapshot, they are not an exhaustive audit. Researchers note that stronger signals can sometimes mask weaker ones, and image processing variations can alter how cometary jets appear. For now, however, 3I/ATLAS appears to be just another silent traveler through our system.