3I/ATLAS Raises Red Flags as SETI’s New Post-Detection Protocols Threaten Citizen Rights and Common Sense

It is time for serious reconsideration of how these protocols align with democratic principles. The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and inquiry, and those freedoms must extend into the cosmic frontier. If discovery ever comes from a backyard telescope or a homemade receiver rather than an institutional lab, the individual discoverer should be celebrated, not silenced or regulated. A new “Citizen Discovery Clause” should be written into any future policy, ensuring that the rights of individuals to observe, analyze, and communicate are explicitly protected.

Equally, the statistical interpretation of anomalous objects like 3I/ATLAS must remain a public conversation. The Law of Large Numbers reminds us not to mistake rarity for proof, but it also cautions against dismissing anomalies simply because they challenge convention. The true value of science lies in openness — in data shared, debated, and understood by all. For SETI and its affiliates, that means releasing information immediately and fully when discoveries are made, without excessive filtering or international wrangling.