Avi Loeb Uncovers 13th Anomaly of 3I/ATLAS Targeting Jupiter

A new discovery in our solar system has sparked intense debate among astronomers. On July 1, 2025, the ATLAS telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, detected an object designated as 3I/ATLAS, which appears to be navigating with unusual precision toward Jupiter. Unlike its interstellar predecessors, ‘Oumuamua and Borisov’, this comet has raised questions about its origins and purpose, with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb suggesting the possibility of artificial intervention.

The discovery of 3I/ATLAS represents a significant achievement for the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Pre-discovery observations from June 14, 2025, via Caltech’s Zwicky Transient Facility confirmed that this object is not bound by the Sun’s gravity. It is moving at an impressive hyperbolic excess velocity of approximately 60 km/s from deep interstellar space. Although NASA has stated that 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth, passing at a minimum distance of about 1.8 astronomical units (approximately 270 million kilometres), its behaviour has drawn attention.

The perihelion of 3I/ATLAS on October 30, 2025, brought it close to Mars, allowing for extensive observations. This included scrutiny from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, as well as other NASA missions. The spacecraft Psyche and Lucy captured images while en route to their targets, and the STEREO-A spacecraft managed to detect the comet despite the sun’s glare. Even Mars-based assets joined the effort, with the MAVEN orbiter identifying a hydrogen envelope and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE camera resolving the object as a distinct ‘fuzzy white ball’.

Unusual Characteristics and Anomalies

What makes 3I/ATLAS particularly intriguing are its anomalies. Loeb has pointed out that the cumulative improbability of its features suggests the need for considering artificial origins. Among these anomalies is the 13th, which has raised eyebrows within the scientific community. During its perihelion, while obscured by the Sun, 3I/ATLAS experienced a non-gravitational push of 5 x 10^{-7} AU/day². This alteration in trajectory has positioned it for a closest approach to Jupiter on March 16, 2026, at a distance of exactly 53.445 million kilometres. This distance is remarkably close to Jupiter’s Hill radius of 53.502 million kilometres, suggesting a calculated manoeuvre.

Loeb theorizes that this extraordinary coincidence, with odds of just 1 in 26,000, may indicate a ‘Jupiter Oberth manoeuvre’. If 3I/ATLAS is indeed a technological probe, it could potentially deploy smaller probes or ‘seeds’ into Jupiter’s orbit, aiming to gather data from a target visible from billions of light-years away.

Divided Opinions in the Scientific Community

The scientific community is currently polarized regarding the nature of 3I/ATLAS. In a paper published in July 2025, Loeb and his collaborators modeled the object as a possible craft capable of deploying other probes. They suggest that extraterrestrial intelligence could be more interested in gas giants than Earth, challenging humanity’s perception of its significance in the universe.

Conversely, many astronomers and members of the public have dismissed the alien hypothesis, arguing that 3I/ATLAS is simply an unfamiliar interstellar object, likely a remnant from a carbon-rich outer disk of a distant star system. NASA officials, including Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, have firmly stated that 3I/ATLAS behaves like a comet and lack definitive technosignatures to support any alien theories.

Social media reactions have been mixed, with some labeling Loeb as a ‘grifter’, while others are closely following updates from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, eager to see if Jupiter reveals new moons or other findings after 2026. As 3I/ATLAS approaches its closest pass to Earth in mid-December, astronomers are preparing for a final observational campaign that could provide pivotal insights into this cosmic enigma.

The ongoing investigation into 3I/ATLAS raises foundational questions about our understanding of interstellar objects and the potential for life beyond Earth. As telescopes worldwide focus on this intriguing visitor, the scientific community and the public alike await the revelations that may emerge from these observations, potentially reshaping our view of the cosmos and our place within it.