Could these be signs of artificial 3I-ntelligence?<\/p>\n
With 3I\/ATLAS streaking away from our planet, speculation remains as to whether the interstellar comet is alien or not.<\/p>\n
NASA has staunchly maintained that the cosmic interloper is of cometary provenance, while Harvard scientist Avi Loeb has doubled down on claims that it could be technological.<\/p>\n
3I\/ATLAS has faced much speculation about its origin. NASA \/ SWNS<\/p>\n
This was after initially appearing to concede it was \u201cnatural\u201d in an interview with NewsNation <\/a>following the comet\u2019s closest approach on Dec. 19.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t just say, \u2018I know the answer and ignore the anomalies. That\u2019s not viable,\u201d Loeb told The Post. \u201cBecause it could be a Black swan event (an unlikely-seeming phenomenon that seems inevitable in retrospect), we must consider the possibility that it\u2019s technological.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOriginally in July, I ranked it [3I\/ATLAS] four on the Loeb scale between zero and 10, where zero is a natural comment, and 10 is an alien technology of potential threat to humanity\u2026and [I] haven\u2019t changed that rank,\u201d added Loeb.<\/p>\n Avi Loeb (shown above) has been following 3I\/ATLAS for quite some time now. Chris Michel\/National Academy of Sciences<\/p>\n Loeb hopes that humanity\u2019s 3I-insight will become clearer after the results of the International Asteroid Warning Network\u2019s Planetary Defense campaign<\/a> are learned \u2014 an effort to glean as much ATLAS intel as possible between Nov. 27, 2025, and Jan. 27, 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cMy general hope is that the best is yet to come in terms of the new data and what we will learn about 3I\/ATLAS,\u201d Loeb concluded. \u201cBut also, there might be new objects in the future because the Rubin Observatory will find new interstellar objects every few months in the coming decade.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cAnd suppose five years from now, there will be one that is definitely technological. People will go back to what I said in 2025 and it will give them good ideas for what to do about another object.\u201d<\/p>\n As a service to space-watchers, Loeb listed the 15 burning theories <\/a>that remain unanswered following its tour of Earth, which could potentially prove that ATLAS is technological \u2014 and The Post condensed them into eight of the most intriguing.<\/p>\n 1. The comets align<\/p>\n A diagram showing 3I\/ATLAS\u2019s trajectory through our solar system. NASA\/JPL<\/p>\n Loeb noted that the trajectory of 3I\/ATLAS was \u201caligned to within 5 degrees with the ecliptic plane of the planets around the Sun,\u201d which he noted had a probability of 0.2%. The rationale for this was unclear but the scientist had previously speculated that ATLAS was using this path to conduct recon on our galaxy<\/a> \u2014 possibly with hostile intent.<\/p>\n 2. Jupiter descending<\/p>\n Loeb believes that Jupiter might be a more enticing target due to its size. Artsiom P \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Loeb said that for the comet to do recon on Jupiter, it would have to move close to Jupiter\u2019s Hill Radius \u2014a region where Jupiter\u2019s gravity dominates over the sun\u2019s, allowing it to hold position with minimal fuel.<\/p>\n So he found it extremely coincidental that during the interstellar entity\u2019s closest approach to Jupiter in March, it will be at a minimum distance of 53,445 million kilometers (over 33.209 million miles) from Jupiter, based on calculations by\u00a0NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.<\/a><\/p>\n Loeb told The Post that if technological objects were to release mini probes to monitor our solar system, our gas planet would be the best bet because it\u2019s \u201cmassive\u201d and \u201cnot fragile.\u201d He analogized them to the monoliths in Stanley Kubrick\u2019s 1968 opus \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey.\u201d<\/p>\n In accordance, the scientist urged the space defense sector to conduct countersurveillance during ATLAS\u2019s closest approach to Jupiter in March.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing to do there would be to use the Juno spacecraft or any other mission that will arrive at Jupiter in the near future,\u201d Loeb said, adding that they should check if there are \u201cnew objects in orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. A tall tail<\/p>\n This photo provided by Gianluca Masi shows the interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS as it streaks through space. AP<\/p>\n Loeb noted that analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope image from July 21, 2025, indicated that ATLAS\u2019 anti-tail \u2014 a jet that faces toward the sun rather than away as is typical \u2014 before its solar approach was in a \u201ccollimated jet\u201d that extended over 600,000 miles.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t understand how the natural cometary sublimation of ice could create such a structure.<\/p>\n \u201cNo known comet exhibited a physical sunward jet of this length,\u201d explained Loeb, who speculated it could be evidence of a jet-shield that deflected solar particles.<\/a><\/p>\n 4. Soaking up the sun<\/p>\n Loeb speculated that the collimated anti-tail could be a sun deflector shield. lukszczepanski \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n This sun-screen theory was further supported by the fact that the Sunward \u201canti-tail\u201d\u00a0is angled within eight degrees of the poles associated with the object\u2019s axis of rotation \u2014 a phenomenon with a probability of 0.5%, per Loeb.<\/p>\n 5. A real \u2018Wow!\u2019 moment<\/p>\n The MeerKAT telescope in South Africa. South African Radio Astronomy Observatory<\/p>\n Loeb declared that the 3I\/ATLAS arrived from a direction that coincided within nine degrees of the famous \u201cWow! Signal,\u201d a baffling radio transmission captured by Ohio State University\u2019s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project<\/a>. It has been viewed as one of the most bizarre radio signals from beyond and is frequently cited as compelling evidence for\u00a0the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence.<\/p>\n 6. A nickel for your thoughts<\/p>\n The Deep Random Survey telescope managed to capture images of interstellar object 3I\/Atlas (previously known as A11pl3Z) in July 2025. K Ly\/Deep Random Survey \/ SWNS<\/p>\n Loeb noted 3I\/ATLAS\u2019 bizarre metal makeup. \u201cThe gas plume surrounding 3I\/ATLAS contains much more nickel than iron, as found in industrially-produced nickel alloys, and a nickel to cyanide ratio that is orders of magnitude larger than for thousands of known comets,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThis might indicate a technological origin for these abundances.\u201d<\/p>\n 7. Bigger, faster, stronger<\/p>\n Comet 3I\/ATLAS as captured by the Gemini North telescope in July 2025. NSF NOIRLab\/Int.Gemini Ob et al. \/ SWNS<\/p>\n Loeb observed that 3I\/ATLAS\u2019 nucleus is much larger and faster than its predecessors \u2014 1I\/`Oumuamua\u00a0and\u00a02I\/Borisov \u2014 and that this could be evidence of its artificial origins.<\/p>\n \u201cThere might not be enough rocky material in interstellar space to deliver a natural iceberg of this mass once per decade to the inner solar system,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThis suggests that 3I\/ATLAS may have targeted the inner solar system rather than being drawn at random from the reservoir of interstellar icebergs.\u201d<\/p>\n 8. Feeling blue<\/p>\n 3I\/ATLAS glows blue while streaking through space. NASA<\/p>\n During perihelion, \u201c3I\/ATLAS brightened faster than any known comet and was bluer than the sun,\u201d Loeb declared.<\/p>\n