“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.”

These are the words with which H. G. Wells introduced his 1898 novel, War of the Worlds.

I was recently reminded of these words as I read reports about the interstellar comet-like object 3iAtlas that entered our solar system this summer.  I’m aware of the possibility of an elaborate AI spoof, but according to remarks attributed to Michio Kaku, distinguished American physicist, 3iAtlas is behaving in ways that appear to defy physical laws.  He also says that the object is sending signals into a distant part of our galaxy in a manner that suggests that 3iAtlas was sent to our solar system to observe and report.  If true, this means that there are civilizations in our universe that are far more advanced than our own.  What is 3iAtlas reporting to its masters?  Will we receive intelligible communications from them?

Go to You Tube and check out 3iAtlas.  Tell me what you think