3I/ATLAS Fires Twin Jets That Defy Comet Physics — Could It Be Alien-Engine Driven?

The object known as 3I/ATLAS has stunned astronomers with twin jets that form straight, stable plumes over millions of kilometres, a phenomenon many say should be impossible given what we know about comet behaviour and physics.

In recent weeks, the interstellar comet currently traversing our solar system has behaved in ways that even veteran scientists find deeply puzzling. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb says these anomalies may be telling us this object is far more unusual—and potentially risky—than we initially believed, potentially signalling that conventional, natural explanations are growing increasingly strained.

Unusual Jets Challenge Cometary Expectations

Observations from multiple telescopes and spacecraft reveal that 3I/ATLAS is emitting tightly collimated jets of gas and dust that remain geometrically stable across time. One analysis of thermal-imaging data described concentric heat rings surrounding the nucleus, alongside a suppression band and a rounded thermal envelope, features summarised as 'extraordinary anomalies.'

Furthermore, long-exposure images taken on 9 November 2025 showed jets extending to distances larger than one million kilometres, yet remaining fixed rather than being smeared by the comet's rotation. Ordinarily, a rotating comet nucleus would blur or fan out such emissions.

According to that analysis, the persistent, straight jets defy expectations, challenging the assumption that 3I/ATLAS is solely powered by volatile sublimation driven by solar heating.

Composition and Outgassing: A Complex Picture

Despite the anomalies, spectroscopic data complicate the picture, showing a chemical make-up consistent with known cometary physics. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) found that 3I/ATLAS's coma is dominated by carbon dioxide (CO₂), with detectable water (H₂O), carbon monoxide (CO), water ice, and dust particles, a composition not unusual for comets.

In fact, JWST's CO₂/H₂O mixing ratio for the coma is roughly 8.0 ± 1.0, among the highest ever recorded in a comet, suggesting an intrinsically CO₂-rich nucleus.

Earlier near-infrared and optical spectroscopy also identified abundant water ice grains in the coma, with a dust composition resembling that of D-type asteroids, rather than ultrared trans-Neptunian objects.

Polarimetric data gathered before perihelion further confirm that 3I/ATLAS may belong to a distinct class of interstellar comets: the polarisation phase curve shows a deep, narrow negative polarisation branch unprecedented among known asteroids and comets.

In sum, 3I/ATLAS both behaves like a volatile-rich comet and exhibits jet structures unlike any observed before.

Scientific Debate: Natural Comet Versus Something Else

The mainstream interpretation remains that 3I/ATLAS is a natural comet, albeit an unusual one. According to NASA, the comet shows typical behaviour for an icy body shedding gas and dust under gravitational influence.

However, not all scientists are persuaded. Avi Loeb, a Harvard astrophysicist, has repeatedly pointed out anomalies that he considers difficult to reconcile with a purely natural object. Among his concerns: the stable jet alignment despite a measured rotation period of roughly 16.16 hours, and the lack of expected jet smearing or rotational artefacts.

Critics of the natural-comet hypothesis argue that radiation from the Sun alone seems insufficient to supply the energy required to drive the observed mass ejections, a mass loss that, if natural, would likely have shattered the nucleus long before now.

What The Data Actually Show — And What They Don't

Data from space-based and ground-based observatories provide the clearest facts: 3I/ATLAS is interstellar, on a hyperbolic inbound trajectory, and is shedding volatiles and dust as it nears the Sun.

Compositionally, it appears CO₂-rich with detectable water ice, dust, CO, and other minor species, consistent with outgassing expected of comets that formed in cold, distant environments.

Morphologically, the jets and tails of 3I/ATLAS do not follow the wavy, fan-like patterns typical of comet outgassing under rotation. Instead, multiple narrow jets remain fixed across time and observations, spanning long distances, a fact that challenges our physical models.

Missing, however, is decisive proof that unequivocally supports an artificial origin. There has been no spectroscopic detection of exotic materials, no observed non-gravitational accelerations that clearly exceed model predictions, and no telemetry or structured signals—only anomalies and unexplained behaviours.

What Might Come Next

Scientists are now analysing data from multiple space missions, including images captured on 9–10 November 2025 by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (HiRISE), MAVEN, Hubble Space Telescope, SPHEREx, and JWST, in a coordinated effort to reconcile conflicting observations.

Independent forensic studies continue to call attention to the persistent anomalies. Some propose targeted follow-up observations aimed at measuring jet velocities, mass flux, and compositional variation across different jets, data that could help test whether the jets behave like sublimation plumes or engineered exhausts.

At the same time, mainstream cometary scientists urge caution: comets, especially interstellar ones, might follow behaviours not yet seen in Solar System objects. The discovery of 3I/ATLAS challenges models, but until repeated, reproducible data confirm a non-natural mechanism, the comet classification remains the default.

3I/ATLAS continues to haunt scientists with its mysteries.