Harvard Astrophysicist Doubles Down on Alien Craft Theory as 3I/ATLAS Keeps Defying Science

CLEVELAND 13 (WCTU) — Months after its discovery, the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is still sparking international debate, with new data and expert theories failing to eliminate the possibility that it may be a spacecraft launched by extraterrestrial intelligence. The object is currently moving through the inner solar system and is expected to come within 170 million miles of Earth on December 19.

Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb remains the most vocal scientific advocate for further investigation, arguing that 3I/ATLAS exhibits properties inconsistent with comets or asteroids. “We just need to watch it,” Loeb told CNN. “I'm not saying it's an alien technology, I'm just saying it doesn't look like a very common thing.”

NASA has classified the object as a comet, but Loeb's observations challenge that label. He notes that the object appears to emit its own light, with the glow originating at the front rather than trailing like a typical comet tail. Hubble Space Telescope images captured on July 21 appear to support this claim, showing a frontal glow never before observed in such objects.

Loeb also highlighted the object’s unusually fine-tuned trajectory. “It lies in the plane of the orbits of the planets around the sun to within five degrees,” he said, adding that it passes near Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. He estimates the chances of this alignment happening naturally at one in 20,000.

Now, Loeb is calling on NASA to redirect existing space assets to observe 3I/ATLAS more closely. Specifically, he’s urging the agency to use the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE camera in early October, when the object passes 17 million miles from Mars. He has also asked that the Juno spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Jupiter, attempt to capture images when 3I/ATLAS swings past the gas giant next spring.

Nick Pope, former UFO investigator for the UK Ministry of Defence, supports the idea of enhanced surveillance. “It is not beyond the realms of science fiction that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien spaceship of some kind,” Pope said. “Of course, this could turn out to be just a comet or an asteroid, albeit an interstellar one, so interesting and incredibly rare. The good thing is this is a testable hypothesis.”

The object’s trajectory, Loeb argues, may be timed to coincide with its closest pass to the sun while Earth is on the opposite side of its orbit, effectively hiding it from view during a potential maneuver. He suggests this may allow the object—or probes it may deploy—to discreetly approach Earth.

Meanwhile, public interest in potential extraterrestrial contact is growing, with prediction market Polymarket showing increased betting odds that the U.S. will confirm the existence of aliens by 2025. The probability recently rose from 6% to 7%, fueled by recent whistleblower testimonies, congressional hearings, and the release of UAP-focused documentaries such as The Age of Disclosure.

Despite skepticism from mainstream astronomers like Oxford’s Chris Lintott, who called Loeb’s theory “nonsense on stilts,” Loeb has introduced a scale for evaluating the likelihood that objects like 3I/ATLAS are artificial. On this “Loeb Scale,” the object scores a six out of ten—suggesting a greater-than-even chance it may be engineered, pending additional evidence.

“Why should we assume that we are the only ones in our cosmic neighborhood?” Loeb asked. “We should just check by looking at the data.”

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