- By Shivangi Sharma
- Tue, 18 Nov 2025 09:00 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
As astronomers await high-resolution images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, speculation surrounding the mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS continues to intensify. While the scientific consensus firmly places the visitor in the category of a carbon-dioxide–rich comet, Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb remains unconvinced.
Loeb, known for his unconventional yet data-driven hypotheses, argues that 3I/ATLAS displays a series of anomalies that simply do not align with a typical comet. “I’m very much looking forward to getting more data in the coming weeks,” he told NewsNation, pushing back against critics who claim the mystery has already been solved. Science, he says, should function like “a detective story,” not a rush to the first plausible conclusion.
Anomalies That Challenge The Comet Theory
For Loeb, several features of 3I/ATLAS stand out:
Unusual Chemical Makeup:
Scientists have noted an atypical ratio of nickel to cyanide, a combination rarely, if ever, seen in natural comets. Loeb views this as one of the strongest indicators that something about the object’s origin is not ordinary.
Massive Size and Strange Structure:
At an estimated size significantly larger than most known comets, 3I/ATLAS exhibits jet structures and even an anti-tail, a phenomenon normally caused by dust grains behaving in ways inconsistent with standard cometary dynamics.
Non-Gravitational Acceleration:
Loeb points to movement patterns that cannot be explained solely by the Sun’s or planets’ gravity. He suggests this could indicate propulsion-like effects, further fueling speculation of an artificial origin.
Close Planetary Encounters:
Its trajectory brought it unusually close to multiple planets, another detail Loeb believes deserves scrutiny.
Suspicion, Silence, and the Need for Transparency
Loeb also questions the timing of data release. NASA’s brief pause before revealing new findings, he says, is “strange” and creates unnecessary speculation. A lack of transparency, he argues, is problematic, especially when dealing with an object that is rapidly leaving the solar system.
Because 3I/ATLAS is moving fast, every day without data represents a lost opportunity. Loeb stresses that timely information is essential for planning follow-up observations and preventing a “data gap” during the object’s departure phase.
The delay has created what he calls a “blind spot” right when activity around the object was expected to peak. This vacuum of information, unsurprisingly, has allowed theories, exotic and otherwise, to flourish online.
NASA has now confirmed that on November 19, the agency will finally reveal what it has been “quietly observing” in recent weeks. The event will be streamed live on NASA’s website and YouTube channel, offering the clearest look yet at the interstellar visitor stirring global curiosity.