Joshua Nair
Brian Cox has responded after an astrophysicist claimed there could be an 'alien spaceship' heading for the solar system.
An interstellar object called 3I/ATLAS has captured the minds of conspiracy theorists around the world as its origins remain a mystery, with many curious about its capabilities to house alien life.
The comet was originally detected by the experts at NASA on 1 July, as members of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) research team identified the mysterious rock.
It will become the third interstellar space object to enter our solar system in recorded history, while being around the same size of New York.
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But since scientist Avi Loeb has been warning of the potential repercussions of the comet landing on earth and potentially kickstarting an alien invasion (somehow), many have been wary of its approach.
While claiming it could be a 'potentially hostile' alien craft that may have began purposely 'braking thrust' as it approaches our planet, the Harvard astrophysicist suggested that there is a 30 to 40 percent chance the comet isn't a 'naturally formed' object.
"The hypothesis in question is that [3I/ATLAS] is a technological artefact, and furthermore has active intelligence," he wrote in a paper with Harvard researchers Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl.
He added that 'two possibilities follow', listing: "First, that its intentions are entirely benign and second, they are malign."
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Loeb suggested that it could be a 'black swan event', that is, when something related to space with a large impact actually happens, against all odds.
Many have been worried but the fact of the matter is that other experts in the industry have been quick to play it down, such as Professor Brian Cox, who took to social media to speak about the 'drivel'.
He wrote: "Just to be clear - given recent drivel on line - Comet 3I/Atlas is a comet, made of carbon dioxide and water ices and bits of other stuff. It is entirely natural in origin, its orbit is as expected and it will whizz around the sun and then disappear off into the galaxy again."
Cox added that if it were to encounter another inhabited solar system again, he hopes 'the living things there are more sensible than us and enjoy it for what it is - a visitor from elsewhere in the galaxy'.
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The scientist described it as a 'pristine lump of rock and ices', which may even have origins in a dead star from billions of years ago. He said that it may just be passing through, noting: "Isn’t that wonderful enough?"
In an official statement from NASA, they said it is classed as interstellar due to the shape of its orbital path, claiming that it 'poses no threat to Earth and will remain far away', with it coming just 170 million miles of us.
“3I/ATLAS will reach its closest point to the Sun around Oct. 30, 2025, at a distance of about 1.4 au (130 million miles, or 210 million kilometres) — just inside the orbit of Mars,” the space agency added.
You can cancel that trip to the shop to stock up on toilet roll now.