Stephen Hawking's Alarming Warning About Aliens Resurfaces After New Scientific Concerns Emerge

Stephen Hawking’s stark warnings about alien civilizations are making headlines again as scientists explore a concept known as the “intelligence trap,” while also raising red flags over a mysterious object in space.

The British physicist, who was also the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, is remembered as one of the most brilliant scientific minds in history.

Before he passed away in 2018, Hawking was strongly against the idea of reaching out to alien species. He believed doing so could invite danger, and he spoke publicly about his fears of what contact with extraterrestrials might mean for humanity.

Hawking’s thoughts have come back into focus after a global team of scientists began exploring the risks tied to the so-called “intelligence trap.”

This idea warns that trying to communicate with an unidentified flying object (UFO) could potentially attract a dangerous alien species—one that might wipe out the human race, according to reports shared by the Daily Mail.

The renewed concern also follows a recent claim by Harvard researchers, who say an unusually behaving object in space—named 31/ATLAS—might not be a typical comet, but possibly an artificial alien probe.

According to Professor Avi Loeb and his fellow researchers, there are strange characteristics surrounding this interstellar object. Its path through space is highly unusual, and it’s on course to fly past three major planets: Venus, Mars, and Jupiter.

Stephen Hawking had raised similar concerns about alien life as far back as 2004, issuing a public warning that still resonates today.

Stephen Hawking's opinion on contacting aliens has resurfaced Wiki Creative Commons

"The extraterrestrials would probably be far in advance of us," Hawking warned.

"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 shared a nearly identical message during a 2010 episode of his documentary series Into the Universe, where he again cautioned against reaching out to beings beyond Earth.

Speaking to the audience in the docuseries, he said: "If aliens ever visit us, the outcome might be similar to when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans."

Even though he was firmly against deliberately sending signals out into the cosmos that might let other lifeforms know we’re here, Hawking was still a big supporter of searching for alien life in a less direct way.

He publicly backed scientific projects such as Breakthrough Listen, a large-scale astronomical initiative focused on scanning the skies for signs of intelligent life without revealing our own location.

"We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet," he warned.

The object in question, 31/ATLAS, is currently expected to make a close pass by Earth later this year—coming within about 223 million miles of our planet.

The comet is set to go past Jupiter, Venus and Mars, before passing Earth Nasa

Scientists have suggested that if the object does turn out to be of alien origin, then there would likely be only “two possibilities” to consider moving forward.

"First, that its intentions are entirely benign and second, they are malign," researchers said.

Of course, it’s still entirely possible that the object is just an unusually large and oddly-behaved comet. But some conspiracy theorists are convinced it’s more than that—especially in light of a supposed prediction made by a famous mystic.

Bulgarian prophet Baba Vanga, who passed away in 1996, is believed by many to have left behind a set of yearly predictions. One of those reportedly involves aliens making contact with Earth during a major sporting event.

There are still several major sports events scheduled for the remainder of the year. These include a few high-profile Formula 1 races, the Women’s Rugby World Cup, and the season-ending WTA and ATP tennis finals in Riyadh and Turin.

So, if you believe in prophecies, there’s plenty of time left for aliens to potentially reach out—if they exist and want to.

Still, if Stephen Hawking’s warnings are anything to go by, revealing ourselves to an advanced alien species might not lead to the kind of welcome we’d hope for.