Overview
- SETI announced Wednesday that radio scans of 3I/ATLAS conducted with the Allen Telescope Array found no signals attributable to extraterrestrial technology.
- The team searched more than seven hours of data across 1–9 gigahertz and initially detected about 74 million narrowband events that were narrowed to roughly 200 candidates.
- Every remaining candidate traced back to human sources on Earth or to Earth‑orbiting satellites after the authors removed interference and matched signals to the comet's motion.
- The study sets upper limits on any transmitter on or near 3I/ATLAS at roughly 10 to 110 watts across the searched bands, effectively ruling out household‑scale or stronger narrowband beacons.
- Researchers say the null result confirms the object’s natural, cometary character, demonstrates the ATA’s rapid‑response capability for future interstellar visitors, and yields practical lessons for filtering terrestrial and satellite interference in later searches.