3I/ATLAS Shock: Comet Repeats 'Alien Tech' Anomaly

A curious cosmic event has astronomers buzzing. Comet 3I/ATLAS, a fleeting visitor from beyond our solar system, is repeating a highly unusual performance first seen in the infamous 'Oumuamua.

This repeated 'alien tech' anomaly has experts scratching their heads and has reignited a fierce debate, are we simply witnessing strange, but natural, phenomena, or is there something truly extraordinary lurking in the dark?

From Lab to Limelight

3I/ATLAS has become a trustworthy source of fascination, capturing the attention of everyone from top astronomers to celebrity figures like Kim Kardashian and tech innovator Elon Musk.

When scientists first detected this object on 1 July 2025, using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile, they immediately recognised that this was no run-of-the-mill space object.

A Rare, Cometary Traveller

This object instantly drew scrutiny because it was only the third confirmed visitor from interstellar space ever recorded, following 'Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. What set 3I/ATLAS apart was its frozen centre surrounded by a 'coma', the bright haze of gas and dust.

Its velocity and path clearly indicate that the Sun's gravity does not hold it — which confirms it originated in a different star system and only entered ours by accident.

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The 'Alien Tech' Hypothesis

While NASA formally classified 3I/ATLAS as a comet rather than an asteroid last week, its peculiar characteristics have led some researchers — most notably Professor Avi Loeb, a theoretical astrophysicist at Harvard University — to suggest the presence of signs of alien technology.

And as it neared its closest point to the Sun in late October (known as perihelion), 3I/ATLAS began behaving in ways that have once again left experts utterly baffled.

Claiming the comet has a 40% likelihood of representing alien technology, Loeb has recently suggested that the measured non-gravitational acceleration may be the result of a hidden, operational internal engine driving the object.

'Alternatively, the non-gravitational acceleration might be the technological signature of an internal engine,' Loeb said in his latest blog. This new idea follows his prior suggestion that the Manhattan-sized interstellar comet might stem from extraterrestrial origins, a position he took before levelling an accusation that NASA is withholding crucial data about the object.

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According to Loeb's recent post on Medium, data from the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) established a 4 arcsecond deviation from the comet's expected orbital path. This displacement is linked to the object's most peculiar feature, a non-gravitational acceleration it experienced near perihelion, causing it to move at a speed gravity alone couldn't account for.

Unlike the slight nudge experienced by a typical comet due to outgassing from its icy surface, the movement observed in 3I/ATLAS registered as exceptionally powerful. Comets typically redden when the surrounding dust scatters sunlight, yet this object exhibited a significant anomaly, its hue transitioned markedly from red to a profound blue.

Coinciding with the period before perihelion, astronomers documented a swift increase in brightness, which implied the expulsion of substantial material. The leading explanation for this event is the vaporisation of surface ice caused by the Sun's extreme thermal energy.

An Interstellar Enigma

The claims made by Loeb, especially those involving the possibility of an internal engine, certainly ignite discussion. As astronomers continue to analyse the non-gravitational forces and colour shifts, this small, speeding object promises to be a flashpoint in our understanding of interstellar phenomena.