Scientists have raised concerns that humanity might face a potentially catastrophic encounter with extraterrestrial beings within just months.
The predictions mirror those made by the late Stephen Hawking.
The renowned theoretical physicist, who passed away in 2018, had cautioned that attempting to establish communication with alien civilisations could result in catastrophe for mankind.
An international research team examining the "intelligence trap" phenomenon has recently revisited these stark warnings.
The predictions mirror those made by the late Stephen Hawking
| PATheir work suggests that excessive confidence might result in catastrophic outcomes.
Harvard astrophysicist Professor Avi Loeb has echoed these concerns by proposing that an enigmatic object heading towards Earth this December might be an alien spacecraft with potentially hostile intentions.
The object, designated 3I/ATLAS, is scheduled to come within 223 million miles of our planet on December 17.
Professor Hawking had argued that extraterrestrial civilisations would likely possess technology vastly superior to ours.
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Comet 3I/ATLAS is currently heading towards the inner solar system at 135,000 miles per hour | NASA/JPL-CaltechIn 2004, he said: "The extraterrestrials would probably be far in advance of us.
"The history of advanced races meeting more primitive people on this planet is not very happy, and they were the same species. I think we should keep our heads low."
He favoured monitoring for alien communications rather than broadcasting Earth's location to the cosmos.
Professor Loeb's research on 3I/ATLAS has identified several anomalies, including its highly irregular trajectory that will bring it near Venus, Mars and Jupiter.
3I/ATLAS spotted in space | Wikimedia commonsThe object travels at approximately 41 miles per second.
Loeb said: "The consequences, should the hypothesis turn out to be correct, could potentially be dire for humanity, and would possibly require defensive measures to be undertaken (though these might prove futile)."
Before his death, Hawking expressed increasing certainty about the existence of extraterrestrial life whilst maintaining his cautionary stance.
In the 2016 film 'Stephen Hawking's Favourite Places', the physicist said: "Gazing at the stars, I always imagined there was someone up there looking back.
PICTURED: Red lines showing the estimated orbits of 3I/ATLAS, and yellow lines show the Sun's in the Milky Way | MATTHEW HOPKINS/UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD"As I grow older, I am more convinced than ever that we are not alone."
He specifically identified Gliese 832c, a world 16 light years distant, as a potential home for intelligent beings.
However, he warned that encountering an advanced civilisation might mirror the devastating impact of Christopher Columbus's arrival on Native American populations.
Hawking said: "One day we might receive a signal from a planet like Gliese 832c, but we should be wary of answering back."
Researchers in 2024 emphasised that transmitting Earth's position to other worlds could constitute a "tactical mistake".