Why would someone "with his standing at Harvard" be expected to avoid "wild, and public, hypothetical[s]"?

Does everyone at any prestigious institution have some duty to remain conventionally mundane in all their musings?

Is there any reason to think such hypotheticals are, on net, more harmful than helpful?

Isn't tenure (like Loeb's) designed to encourage a fearlessness around topics & speech?

That's his grift these days.

He'll have the same to say about the next one.

When we observe a fourth interstellar object, I'll gladly read Avi Loeb's wildest speculations alongside more measured perspectives. This is the third time we're observing an interstellar object?

Yes, this is the third to be spotted.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1I/%CA%BBOumuamua

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2I/Borisov

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3I/ATLAS

2/3 of them Loeb has made wild claims about.