Is humanity ready for alien technology? Avi Loeb discusses the risks as 3I/ATLAS approaches

The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is approaching Earth with each passing day. On December 19, 2025, the object will come closest to Earth, but even then, it will remain approximately 170 million miles or 270 million kilometers away from the planet. 

While NASA has declared that 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to humans since it is a natural comet, Harvard professor Avi Loeb has not dismissed the idea of its technological origin altogether. 

Although he considers it mostly natural as of now, the anomalies that differentiate it from a comet are equally significant to him. 

Consequently, he remains skeptical about what it could mean for human civilization if data after its closest approach to Earth reveals it to be technological or artificial in nature. 

In a Medium blog post, published on December 10, 2025, Loeb discussed the risks humanity could face if 3I/ATLAS turned out to be technological. 

As of now, Loeb stated that the world is not prepared for any form of encounter with alien technology or extraterrestrial beings, as there is no “response protocol for alien technology.”

However, he believes reforms will be made, and steps to change the current status of space exploration will be taken if 3I/ATLAS is declared technological. 

Harvard physicist Avi Loeb discusses the risks and the need for science to study the possibility of a technological origin of interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS

In his blog post, Loeb stated that if 3I/ATLAS turns out to be of artificial origin, it “could pose a threat to humanity,” unlike what NASA and other astronomers have said about the interstellar object.

According to him, the reason behind the “threat” is the lack of a “response protocol” for alien technology.

However, he added that the “first encounter” could change how experts view and study interstellar objects, if humanity manages to survive it. 

“But after the first encounter – as long as we survive it – there will be political will to invest trillions of dollars in a warning system of interceptors that take close-up photos of anomalous interstellar objects,” he wrote. 

That said, Loeb hoped that 3I/ATLAS would not bring “unwated gifts for the holidays,” as December 19, the date for its closest approach to Earth, nears. 

Loeb then went on to discuss the risks and repercussions of ignoring the anomalies that interstellar objects, like 3I/ATLAS, display.

According to him, science is a “continuous process,” not a “finished product.” Consequently, astronomers must continue to collect evidence and remain skeptical in the study of interstellar objects. 

However, Loeb criticized how “experts” relied on past data and classified 3I/ATLAS as natural, despite its anomalies, refusing to adapt. 

“Despite lessons from history, present-day scientists minimize the risk to their reputation by not sharing error-corrections from data and conversing with the public only once they know the final answer,” he wrote.

Loeb stated that by keeping the public in the dark and only informing them “what it needs to know,” scientists are not only dismissing the urgency of the situation but also portraying science as an “occupation of the intellectual elite.”

The physicist added that science “is a work in progress,” which is why anomalies must be studied intently as it allows “a multitude of interpretations.”

In addition, the allocation of funds for other research, such as the search for microbes, which was assigned over $10 billion, and none to the study of “technological signatures,” posed a threat to the accumulation of information. 

According to Loeb, it prevented astronomers from conducting in-depth research and preparing humans for future artificial contact, if any.

“The public is much more passionate about the search for aliens than the search for microbes. Taxpayers fund science, and scientists should not sideline the public’s interest when defining research priorities,” he wrote. 

With that, Loeb concluded that it would be more logical to “hedge our bets and invest billions” in the study of technological entities and microbes simultaneously. 

Stay tuned for more updates.