Is ‘alien’ comet 3I/ATLAS now targeting Jupiter? Harvard scientist lists 13 anomalies

The mystery of the alien comet probe sent to steal all our solar system’s secrets (possibly…) just intensified, as a Harvard scientist has claimed it could be on a mission to Jupiter.

Maverick astrophysicist Dr Avi Loeb has continued to put forward his claim that 3I/ATLAS looks like more than just a lump of minerals, despite derision from the mainstream scientific community.

Today, he published a list of 13 ‘anomalies’ about the space rock, only the third ever identified as visiting us from outer space.

Most compelling to him is that it is now on a trajectory to pass alongside the gravitational pull of gas giant Jupiter next year.

Dr Loeb claimed: ‘The rare coincidence might mean that 3I/ATLAS intends to release technological devices as artificial satellites of Jupiter, potentially at Jupiter’s Lagrange points L1 and L2.’

The comet is expected to reach this point on March 16, so if the gas giant suddenly gets some extra moons after that, we might get suspicious.

He said this wasn’t always the comet’s course, but it was ‘enabled by the non-gravitational acceleration that 3I/ATLAS displayed near perihelion [the point of its orbit closest to the Sun].’

Jupiter is not the only planet it will have had a close encounter with: ‘The arrival time […] was fine-tuned to bring it within tens of millions of kilometers from Mars, Venus and Jupiter and be unobservable from Earth at perihelion.’

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, only the third space rock ever identified as visiting us from outer space, has sparked furious debate since it was first spotted on July 1.

Most of the fury has been from the mainstream scientific community, who say the idea of it being a spacecraft programmed to come to our solar neighbourbood is ridiculous.

Even Nasa has weighed in, with Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya telling a press conference last week: ‘3I/ATLAS is a comet.’

‘It looks and behaves like a comet and all evidence points to it being a comet. But this one came from outside the solar system, which makes it fascinating, exciting, and scientifically very important. This is only the third interstellar object like this that humanity has ever found.’

He said he was ‘actually very excited that a lot of the world was speculating about the comet while NASA was in a period where we couldn’t speak about it due to the recent government shutdown’, as it showed people were ‘interested and exctied’ about ‘how magical the universe could be’.

It even ‘expanded people’s brains’ to think about it, he said.

So, with that disclaimer in mind, what other evidence has Dr Loeb cited to suggest 3I/ATLAS might not be a comet at all?

13 weird things about the interstellar comet/possible alien probe

Even Dr Loeb only gives the comet a 30% to 40% chance of being an alien object, saying the most likely outcome is that it is a comet, just like Nasa said on November 19.

But if it were to be designed by an outer space mechanic?

Here are his reasons, ranked from most to least hardest to explain naturally, with the first group ‘major anomalies with no simple explanation’.

Precise meeting with Jupiter

He says the comet will pass right by the point where Jupiter’s stable gravitational pull begins (its Hills radius). So if it did have a payload on board, it would be the perfect place to drop satellites into orbit.

Well-planned itinerary

If this comet were doing a spot of space tourism, it would tick all the major boxes on the guide book. He claims its arrival time was ‘fine-tuned’ to bring it ‘within tens of millions of kilometers from Mars, Venus and Jupiter’ as well as hide from earthly observers when it was closest to the Sun.

Massive size

The comet is so big that it is statistically unlikely to have arrived here by chance. The other two interstellar rocks we’ve seen were much smaller, and slower.

‘There is not enough rocky material in interstellar space to deliver a rock of this mass once per decade to the inner solar system,’ he claimed. ‘This suggests that 3I/ATLAS may have targeted the inner solar system rather than was drawn at random from the reservoir of interstellar rocks.’

Anti-tail (sunward jet)

In July and August, as well as part of November, the comet’s tail of particles pointed towards the Sun rather than away from it, as is typical for comets.

High nickel content

The gas plume of 3I/ATLAS has ‘much more nickel than iron’, such as that seen in nickel alloys. Could be because it comes from a different part of space, or perhaps an ‘artificial origin’.

Alligned with the planets

Even though scientists think the comet zoomed into our solar system from different reaches of the galaxy, moving fast enough to avoid capture by the Sun’s gravity, it is still within five degress of the elliptical plane as the planets, though it is moving the opposite direction (retrograde).

‘Medium anomalies, which could be a statistical fluke’

Dr Loeb then turned to evidence which could more easily be dismissed as a coincidence:

Same part of sky as Wow! Signal

Calculations of where the comet came from show it originated in a similar part of the sky as a famous, unexplained radio burst was picked up in the 1970s; at the time, it was seen as a possible extraterrestrial broadcast though a natural origin is now more widely accepted.

Extreme negative polarisation

He said this was ‘unprecedented’ for all known comets, including 2I/Borisov (the last interstellar comet).

‘Minor anomalies, which could potentially be explained by a unique origin’

Dr Loeb was more willing to concede these features could be down to coming from a different star system, with different elements commonly found.

Low water content in its gas cloud

Most comets give off significant amounts of water as ice melts when close to the Sun.

Brightened faster than any known comet

Near its closest approach to the Sun, it ‘brightened faster than any known comet and was bluer than the Sun’, suggesting a big release of energy.

This could be ‘a signature that its engine turned on,’ he claimed.

‘Unreasonably large’ jet surface area

He said jets caused by sunlight would be expected to cover a smaller area, so the fact they cover a large area could indicate it has ‘thrusters’.

Focused jets

The jets it does have appear stable and ‘maintain orientation’, despite the comet spinning.

Non-gravitational acceleration

For this to happen, a comet usually needs mass evaporation but this comet remained intact: ‘the acceleration might have been produced by an engine.’

‘An extremely rare and mysterious object’

Dr Loeb, who is head of the alien-hunting Galileo Project, added: ‘It is apparent that 3I/ATLAS is an extremely rare and mysterious object, especially if it happens to be a natural comet as argued by NASA official.’

Given that nearly every other prominent scientist things it’s a fascinating comet, we’ll take their word for it unless it does start broadcasting.

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