Scott Roder, Crime Scene Reconstruction Expert

"If I saw that 3I/Atlas was...zigzagging, or approaching Earth, or releasing some mini probes...then obviously, you know, the stock market may crash." ~Avi (Pretty solid answer here from today's podcast/debate with the added bonus of some light shots at Shermer.) Dr. Avi Loeb: "The truth is not decided by authority. I don't care about what @AlanStern says. I don't care about what @david_kipping says. If the data shows something really anomalous, they can continue to say that it's a dark comet. "On January 2, 2025, there was an object catalogued by the minor planets...the main authority designated by the international astronomy union. They found a near-Earth asteroid and gave it a name. And then [later] they realized that, 'Oh, that one follows the path of the Tesla Roadster car that was launched by @SpaceX in 2018.' Removed it immediately from their catalog. "And there were dozens of cases like that, where astronomers say, 'It's a rock! Oh, wait a minute. No, it's a spacecraft or some space debris that we launched.' Now, what about spacecraft or space debris that other civilizations launched? We don't know their trajectories. And those same astronomers that @michaelshermer calls experts would say and insist that they must be rocks of a type that we've never seen before. That was done for Oumuamua. "There were experts that Michael would really respect that said, 'You know, it's a hydrogen iceberg. It's a nitrogen iceberg. It's a dust bunny.' These were the mainstream suggestions. Can you believe it? Things we've never seen before. A dust bunny being Oumuamua? A hydrogen iceberg. These are the experts that Michael wants us to listen to (I love these little jabs at Shermer. ~Joe)! And I'm saying, science depends on the level of evidence. So obviously, eventually, if we have enough evidence... "So, what I would like, you know, if I saw that 3I/Atlas was maneuvering, just to give an example, if it was maneuvering, then obviously, you know, the stock market may crash. Because that kind of a maneuver that cannot be accounted for by the rocket effect of a comet - if it's like, zigzagging or approaching Earth or releasing some mini probes - you know, that would be clear indication that it's technological. Or if it broadcasts something or has artificial lights. "However, if it becomes, you know, clear that it has a cometary tail of the type that is expected from natural objects, I would... You know, I invented the scale last month. Now it's called the Loeb scale, where zero means natural, ten means artificial and likely to threaten Earth. And so far, I gave it a four, 3I/Atlas. But, I would bring it down to zero if we get more data as it comes close to the sun and it erupts just like a comet, I would say, 'Yeah, it's natural. I bring it down to zero.' "Now you may ask, 'How is it that you are changing your mind? Is it under pressure?' No, it's because we have more data and science. You know, whoever pretends that scientists know the answer is wrong, because, you know, we thought that we detected B-mode polarization from inflation. It ended up being dust from, you know, the Milky Way Galaxy. And that's just an example of how science is done in iterations. It takes more and more data, eventually, to figure out what's going on."