Avi Loeb: Interstellar Object 3I/Atlas - Jets, Fragmentation, and NASA Data

3I/Atlas Perihelion and Anomalies

• 💡 The interstellar object 3I/Atlas passed closest to the sun (perihelion) on October 29, 2025, undergoing a significant stress test from solar radiation.
• 🚀 It exhibited non-gravitational acceleration, which, if from a natural comet, would imply a substantial 15% mass loss from sublimation.
• 👽 This acceleration could also be attributed to thrusters, suggesting a potential technological origin.

Unprecedented Jet Activity

• 📸 Images revealed at least seven tightly collimated jets extending millions of kilometers, including one million kilometers towards the sun and three million kilometers in the opposite direction.
• ⚠️ For a natural comet, a jet propagating towards the sun would need to be extremely dense to overcome the solar wind's ram pressure.
• 📊 Calculations suggest these jets would carry five billion tons of mass, requiring a surface area equivalent to a 20-kilometer object, far larger than 3I/Atlas's inferred size.

Natural vs. Technological Origin

• ☄️ If 3I/Atlas is a natural comet, its high mass outflow implies it should have broken up into fragments to expose more surface area, which would separate due to solar tidal forces.
• 🛰️ Conversely, if it's technological, the jets would likely have much higher velocities, requiring significantly less fuel mass to achieve the observed acceleration.
• 🔬 Future observations will focus on measuring the velocity, mass content, and composition of these jets to definitively determine its nature.

Data Delays and Scientific Debate

• 🚫 NASA's High-Rise images of 3I/Atlas have been withheld due to bureaucracy, hindering timely scientific analysis and observation planning.
• 💬 Professor Loeb criticizes this suppression of scientific information, arguing that it's anti-scientific to claim answers without evidence or to delay data dissemination.
• 🧠 He suggests that some experts, like AI systems, are trained on comet data, leading them to classify any anomaly as a "dark comet" rather than considering alternative explanations.

Other Observations and Future Outlook

• 🔭 Amateur observations currently show a central glow without clear evidence of fragmentation, but higher-resolution data from large telescopes is eagerly awaited.
• 🛰️ A new, barely bound object was discovered by Gennady Borisov, but its trajectory is not related to 3I/Atlas, making a direct connection unlikely.
• 🗓️ The object will be closest to Earth on December 19th, by which time more definitive data is expected to clarify its true nature.