The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS has ended up at the center of a real media case regarding its alleged artificial origin, hypothesized and repeatedly suggested by the astrophysicist Avi Loeb of Harvard University since its discovery in July. This hypothesis derives from the numerous anomalies presented by this unusual interstellar object, the third that we observe transiting our Solar System. Unfortunately, although there is no convincing evidence to support this hypothesis, the narrative of extraterrestrial technology has taken total control of the public discourse around this comet discovered on July 1st, creating understandable concerns among the population and completely obscuring scientific interest in this celestial body. NASA has declared that it is a comet and, with a press conference scheduled for today at 9pm Italian time, will begin to release new images collected in the previous months.
How a “media case” was created around comet 3I/ATLAS: the role of Avi Loeb and the media
Loeb never explicitly stated that 3I/ATLAS is an alien spacecraft, nor did he portray this scenario as likely. After all, he is a scientist of great caliber, with an impressive CV. But a great scientist, more than others, has responsibilities even when he publicly suggests certain statements, because he is taken seriously. It is the so-called “authority bias”: an authority says it, so I believe it. Which makes sense, but we must always remember the words of Carl Sagan, perhaps the greatest popularizer of all time: “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Here, there is simply no extraordinary evidence.
The hypothesis of the possible alien spacecraft, although of limited interest from a scientific point of view, nevertheless has great attraction for the media, because it makes 3I/ATLAS much more newsworthy.
The only authority capable of countering this narrative and reporting it on a scientific level is NASA, but the shutdown that began in October in the USA has reduced the activities of the space agency to a minimum, which for a month and a half did not release images of the comet or statements. Many took this as suspicious, as if there was some secret to hide, even if it was simply the “fault” of the shutdown. Now that the shutdown is over, NASA has started making statements about 3I/ATLAS being a comet to calm things down a bit and is starting to release images collected during the shutdown.
How Science Addresses These Questions: The “Flying Teapot” Concept
So is 3I/ATLAS an alien spacecraft or not? The most honest answer is that it isn’t until proven otherwise. Common opinion dictates that if a hypothesis cannot be ruled out, it is right to be open-minded and actively study this possibility. This idea makes perfect sense but there are nuances. Science deals with these things with a very specific approach, and to explain it the philosophical concept of the so-called “flying teapot”, or “Russell’s teapot” is useful.
The British philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote in 1952:
If I argued that between Earth and Mars there was a porcelain teapot revolving around the Sun in an elliptical orbit, no one could contradict my hypothesis as long as I was careful to add that the teapot is too small to be detected even by the most powerful of our telescopes. But if, seeing that my assertion cannot be disproved, I were to maintain that doubting it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason, I would rightly be thought to be talking rubbish.
Here Russell tells us that we do not have to actively explore hypotheses just because they cannot be ruled out. We explore hypotheses when they have supporting evidence. Here we have a very strong hypothesis, but no strong evidence. In short, the alien spaceship that Avi Loeb talks about is to all intents and purposes a flying teapot: something that exists only to the extent that it cannot be denied. Ergo, it’s fine to look for it but scientists aren’t required to do so.
