Will an interstellar spacecraft pass through our solar system? That’s the big question for UFO enthusiasts, as well as for researchers at the University of Washington who have analyzed speculation about interstellar comets. 3i/atlas,
Because the Wind, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin Center for an Informed Public, 3I/ATLAS, is focused on tracking how social media influencers use exaggerated speculation to fill information gaps.
“I have previously written about how expert opinion can fuel conspiracy theories through rumors and elite-driven hype,” Baer explained in an email to GeekWire. “My academic interest in the philosophy, epistemology, and politics of conspiracy theories, as well as my personal interest in space-related conspiracy theories, has led me to look more closely at 3I/ATLAS.”
The title of their analysis published this week is “An Alien from the Gaps: How 3i/ATLAS Was Transformed into a Cyberspaceship.” The title is inspired by a concept called the “God of the Gaps” which explores how thinkers throughout the ages have sought to explain events they did not fully understand by appealing to the influence of higher powers.
In ancient Greece, these higher powers may have been gods on Mount Olympus. A similar process exists today, Baer says: “Where natural explanations seem incomplete, we present the option of a distinct higher power, this time not Zeus, but a supernatural power.”
Such questions came into focus when 3I/ATLAS sightings in July of the object suggested it was the third known celestial intruder to reach the solar system from a distance, and even after astronomers provided evidence to classify it as a comet, 3I/ATLAS showed enough unusual behavior to sustain speculation about alien technology.
How exactly did this speculation persist? One prominent figure is Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb. Several years before 3I/ATLAS was found, Loeb and his colleague raised the possibility that the previously observed interstellar object known as ‘Oumuamua could be a fully functioning probe. intentionally The Earth is surrounded by an alien civilization.
Loeb repeatedly hits on the topic of space technology. A follow-up paper and book will be published in 2023. The discovery of 3I/ATLAS this year His speculation got a new boost. To track how these ideas influenced online discussions about 3I/ATLAS, Bayard used a media analytics platform called com.brandwatch. It analyzed nearly 700,000 posts about the comet published on X social media channels between July 1 and November 21.
“About 280,000 of the 700,000 posts invoke aliens or ET technology — about 40% of the 3I/ATLAS conversation on X,” Beyer wrote. Nearly 130,000 posts referred to Loeb by name or his status as a Harvard scientist. There are over 82,000 publications clearly linking his name to the alien technology hypothesis.
“To be fair, Avi Loeb sometimes says that 3I/ATLAS might be a natural interstellar comet,” Baer says. “But he then spends more time delving into alleged ‘oddities’ and entertaining the hypothesis of alien technology. For most viewers, the scale and focus of this speculation effectively buries the initial warning and revives the story about the alien frame rather than the natural comet explanation.”
All of this feeds into a broader online ecosystem that Bayard calls the “occult economy.”
“Our information systems reward the production of ambiguity and speculation,” he writes. “This reward is fueled by a ready ecosystem of websites, and content creators on various platforms who produce, publish, and amplify speculation. These creators need a constant supply of ‘new’ content, and Loeb’s growing list of inconsistencies, even if indirectly refuted by organizations like NASA, fuels the need for constant ambiguity and endlessly reusable content.”
If you’re interested in the discrepancies, Penn State astronomer Jason Wright, who focuses on studying exoplanets and searching for extraterrestrial intelligence, ticks off Loeb’s list (and offers an explanation that doesn’t involve aliens). Blog post published last month,
But the issue behind Bayard’s research has more to do with social media dynamics than planetary science. Insights gained from studying “aliens from the gaps” can also be applied to other areas of conspiracy theory. Vaccine disclaimer until search for suspect in January 6 pipe bomb bombing,
Bayard had to limit his statistical analysis to 3I/ATLAS-related posts on X, but he saw signs of information flowing between different online platforms. “One term that comes up frequently in 3i/ATLAS conversations on
“Due to limitations in access to the data, we cannot confidently identify a single diffusion association,” Bayer said. “What we can say is that the conversation is ongoing
However, this may change. 3I/ATLAS will approach Earth on December 19, which means there will be more opportunities for astronomical imagination — and for speculative discussion online.
Thanks to Julian de Winter for permission to republish a November 25 image from 3i/Atlas that was captured by Victor Thabet and de Winter using the Starfront Observatories telescopes in Texas.
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