This is the reason why NASA has not released high-resolution photographs of 'potentially hostile' comet 3I/Atlas.
Discovered back in July, 3I/Atlas has since generated quite a lot of public interest after Harvard professor Avi Loeb suggested there was a 30 to 40 per cent scenario in which the comet was not a 'naturally formed' object.
Of course, that's still a 60 to 70 per cent chance that 3I/ATLAS is a rock visiting our solar system from deep in space, but even the tiniest notion that we could be about to meet aliens has, of course, sent everyone into a frenzy.
Loeb has since been vocal in sharing updates on 3I/ATLAS via his Medium account, revealing the object appeared to be behaving rather unusually as it approached the sun and even taking aim at NASA over their response to it.
Advert
Loeb was particularly critical about NASA's apparent refusal not to release a series of high resolution images captured of 3I/ATLAS 2 October by a camera onboard the space agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
"The truth is not decided by authority. NASA has no authority over nature to tell us what nature is. I mean, it's decided by data," he said. "I find it really peculiar for NASA, it's sort of the signature of a bureaucratic body where hierarchy decides what is being done, and somehow, someone in the leadership decided to make a very bold and strong statement without attending to the data."
So why hasn't NASA released the high-resolution images it captured?
The suggestion that images of 3I/ATLAS are being deliberately hidden because it's an alien mothership is something which will, of course, set the rumour mill running.
Now, if this were to be the case, that would be completely understandable, considering the fact that a 1983 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds once managed to cause mass panic across America.
However, as with most things, the truth is a lot more straightforward and boring.
Why hasn't NASA released high-resolution images of comet 3I/Atlas?
Well, it's all to do with the ongoing federal government shutdown currently taking place in the US, over the inability of Congress to agree on a new funding deal.
As a federal agency, NASA is also impacted by the shutdown and has confirmed the images won't be released until the government reopens.
"NASA is a part of the federal government, which is currently shut down. Communications that do not pertain to the safety of property or life are not excepted," read a statement sent to LADbible from the agency.
"Imagery will be released once the government reopens."
Hopefully, that will be before the comet passes the sun and heads back out into space.
Brenna Cooper