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Home Tech Professor who says space object 3I/ATLAS may have ‘thrusters’ calls out experts for dismissing theories

Professor who says space object 3I/ATLAS may have ‘thrusters’ calls out experts for dismissing theories

Tech • December 16, 2025 • 0 Comment
This NASA image obtained on November 19, 2025, shows the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, circled in the center, as seen by the L'LORRI black-and-white imager on NASA's Lucy spacecraft. This image was made by stacking a series of images taken on September 16, 2025, as the comet was zooming toward Mars and spacecraft Lucy was 240 million miles away from 3I/ATLAS. The image shows the comet's coma, the fuzzy halo of gas and dust surrounding 3I/ATLAS above, and its tail, a smudge of gas flowing to the right of the comet. Vestige of a distant past or extraterrestrial threat? The comet 3I/ATLAS, currently speeding through our solar system, fascinates scientists and captivates social networks, including Kim Kardashian, who speculate it might be an alien spacecraft. From the superstar to a member of the US Congress, and prominent conspiracy theorists, various voices are questioning whether it is not a natural comet but... an extraterrestrial vessel. (Photo by NASA / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NASA " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by NASA/NASA/AFP via Getty Images)
When 3I/ATLAS was first spotted in July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), the world was excited. The comet is the third known interstellar visitor recorded (something which originated outside our solar system) since 1I/Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019). However, it sparked further curiosity as it has also defied the usual behaviour of a comet — which has led to some wild theories about aliens…(Picture: NASA/NASA/AFP via Getty Images)
Hubble captured this image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was 277 million miles from Earth. Hubble shows that the comet has a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust coming off its solid, icy nucleus. Image Credit: Image: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Nasa’s train of thought goes that if it acts like a comet, then it must be a comet – but not everyone agrees. Harvard astrophysicist Professor Avi Loeb listed at least 13 anomalies on 3I/ATLAS, and called out Nasa officials for ignoring the anti-tail properties of 3I/ATLAS. He said: ‘Why are comet experts and Nasa officials so reluctant in displaying curiosity about the anti-tail or other anomalies of 3I/ATLAS?’ (Picture: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt)
NASA to reveal new pictures of 3I/Atlas
In an interview, the professor referenced features from the sunward anti-tail of 3I/ATLAS to its unusual trajectory, but as his theory contradicts Nasa’s statement that 3I/ATLAS is a natural comet, he has faced backlash for spreading misinformation. However, the professor wrote in his blog: ‘The latest images from December 14 and 15, 2025 show a prominent anti-tail that extends out to half a million kilometers away from the nucleus of 3I/ATLAS towards the Sun. This length is larger than the average distance to the Moon: 384,400 kilometers. An anti-tail of this size had never been observed before for a comet.’ (Picture: Nasa)
This photo provided by Gianluca Masi shows the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas as it streaks through space, 190 million miles from Earth, on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. The image was taken from Manciano, Italy. (Gianluca Masi via AP)
He added: ‘To reach a scale of 500,000 kilometers over the past 45 days after perihelion, the sunward speed of the material in the anti-tail must be at least 130 meters per second relative to the nucleus of 3I/ATLAS. Whether this speed can be maintained by sublimated dust or gas from pockets of ice facing the solar wind and solar radiation pressure remains to be studied. The alternative is a jet from a technological thruster.’ (Picture: Gianluca Masi via AP)
NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope reobserved interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS Nov. 30, with its Wide Field Camera 3 instrument. NASA, ESA, STScI, D. Jewitt (UCLA), M.-T. Hui (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory). Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI) https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/3iatlas/2025/12/04/nasas-hubble-space-telescope-revisits-interstellar-comet/
Dr Loeb said: ‘The orientation of the anti-tail flipped relative to the direction of motion at perihelion and is definitely not a matter of perspective, as is the case for some comets. Micrometer-scale, refractory dust particles would have been swept away from the Sun by the solar radiation and wind. The anti-tail must therefore contain something else.’ (Picture: NASA, ESA, STScI, D. Jewitt, M.-T. Hui. Image Processing: J. DePasquale (STScI))
Comet 3I/ATLAS streaks across a dense star field in this image captured by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South at Cerro Pach??n in Chile, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab. This image is composed of exposures taken through four filters ??? red, green, blue and ultraviolet. As exposures are taken, the comet remains fixed in the center of the telescope???s field of view. However, the positions of the background stars change relative to the comet, causing them to appear as colorful streaks in the final image. See a version of the image where the stars have been ???frozen??? here. These observations of Comet 3I/ATLAS were conducted during a Shadow the Scientists program hosted by NSF NOIRLab. A full recording of the session can be found here.
Oxford astronomer Chris Lintott was quoted last week as saying: ‘Any suggestion that it’s artificial is nonsense on stilts, and is an insult to the exciting work going on to understand this object.’ Another astrophysicist, Adam Frank, called Dr Loeb’s essays in 3I/ATLAS as ‘musings’ rather than scientific research. (Picture: International Gemini Observatory)
(upper) Combined 130 s F350LP image of 3I/ATLAS showing diffuse asymmetric emission to the north west. (lower) Same image contoured, with scale bar and direction arrows shown. The yellow and green arrows mark, respectively, the projected negative heliocentric velocity vector and the projected anti-solar direction. Note that the bulk of the dust is sunward of the nucleus.; From: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.02934; 14980475 Chilling new clue interstellar object is of intelligent design... as scientists warn 'it could save or destroy us'
Whatever it is, 3I/ATLAS makes its closest approach to Earth on Friday (December 19), offering astronomers a narrow window to observe the rare visitor from a different galaxy. Researchers say that it poses no danger to Earth or any other planets as it passes through the inner Solar System, and will give astronomers an exciting opportunity to study its coma. (Picture: Jewit et al)

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