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Astronomers are puzzled, and that’s putting it mildly. A strange pattern of pulses, repeating like clockwork, has been detected from 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object cruising through our Solar System. The sequence- 8, 13, 8, 5, 13, 8, has left researchers scratching their heads. What’s weirder? It seems almost… intentional. Here’s what we know so far about this bizarre discovery. A Signal That Breaks The Rules The first time scientists noticed the signal, they assumed it was noise, maybe a satellite glitch or some Earth-based interference. But that theory didn’t hold up for long. The pulses were synchronised across 15,000 kilometres, picked up by observatories on different continents. No local equipment error could explain that. Even more unsettling: the signal runs on 1420 MHz, a frequency long considered the “cosmic calling card” by SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) researchers. Then there’s the sequence itself, close to the Fibonacci pattern, the mathematical code that nature seems obsessed with, from sunflower spirals to galaxy arms. One X (formerly Twitter) user summed up the feeling best: “Stable. Deliberate. Intelligent.” “Observe. Prepare. Understand. The Gate Awaits.” Here’s where things take a turn straight out of a sci-fi thriller. An anonymous source claimed to have decoded the pulse pattern into a short message: “Observe. Prepare. Understand. The Gate Awaits.” If true, it would mark the first deliberate signal ever received from an interstellar visitor, a discovery that would rewrite the story of our place in the universe. But not everyone’s buying it. Astronomers have urged restraint, reminding everyone that no official verification has been made. The internet, however, is having a field day. ALSO READ: Comet 3I/ATLAS Live Tracker: Latest Updates on Location, Visibility, Live Streaming, Date, Time, and Sky Map So, What Exactly Is 3I/ATLAS? Discovered in July 2025 by Hawaii’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), 3I/ATLAS was immediately flagged as unusual. Its hyperbolic orbit means it’s just passing through, not orbiting the Sun, but slicing across the Solar System before disappearing back into deep space. Physicist Michio Kaku has called it a “mystery interstellar object,” citing its unpredictable motion and bizarre light variations. Some even compare it to Oumuamua, the cigar-shaped visitor from 2017 that sparked similar debates about extraterrestrial origin. A Visitor, Not a Threat Despite the buzz, astronomers assure us there’s no danger here. 3I/ATLAS isn’t on a collision course with Earth. For now, it’s drifting behind the Sun, but it’ll reappear in December 2025, glowing faintly with its icy tail visible through telescopes. Still, that hasn’t stopped speculation. Filmmaker and researcher David Sereda claims to have detected light pulses matching the same Fibonacci rhythm and intriguingly, it happened on the 108th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fátima. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Caution In The Chaos The truth is, we don’t know what this signal means, or if it means anything at all. It could be a scientific breakthrough, or just another cosmic quirk waiting to be explained. Either way, 3I/ATLAS has become 2025’s biggest space enigma, a reminder that the universe still knows how to surprise us. For now, we watch. We wait. We wonder. (with inputs taken from The Economic Times) Get Latest News live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Technology Science and around the world.
