• Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb co-authored a paper suggesting the Manhattan-sized interstellar object 3I/ATLAS could be a technological artifact with active intelligence.
• The comet displays eight anomalies including unusual orbital alignment, extreme size, and lack of typical cometary features that have earned it a rank of 4 out of 10 on the Loeb scale.
• Loeb and his colleagues propose the object could be either benign or potentially hostile, citing the “Dark Forest” theory that alien civilizations remain silent to avoid detection by predators.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (TDR) — A Harvard scientist monitoring an interstellar comet the size of New York has suggested the space rock has exhibited signs it could be an alien object.

The comet known as 3I/ATLAS has sparked interest in the scientific community ever since it was identified in July, with researcher Avi Loeb co-authoring a paper which suggested the comet had the potential for being a technological artifact.

The hypothesis of active intelligence

“The hypothesis in question is that 3I/ATLAS is a technological artifact, and furthermore has active intelligence,” Loeb wrote in the paper alongside fellow researchers Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies. “If this is the case, then two possibilities follow,” the paper states, suggesting the object’s intentions could be either benign or malign.

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The researchers explored the possibility that 3I/ATLAS could provide evidence supporting the dark forest hypothesis, popularized by science fiction writer Cixin Liu’s novel. This theory proposes that the universe is filled with hostile civilizations that remain silent to avoid detection by potential predators, which would explain why searches for extraterrestrial signals have been unsuccessful.

Eight surprising anomalies

The interstellar visitor has displayed eight anomalies that earned it a rank of 4 out of 10 on the Loeb scale, a metric quantifying the likelihood of artificial origin. The object’s trajectory is aligned within 5 degrees of the ecliptic plane of planets around the sun, with a probability of just 0.2% for such an alignment to occur randomly.

The comet also showed a sunward jet that is not an optical illusion from geometric perspective, unlike familiar comets. Additionally, 3I/ATLAS is about a million times more massive than 1I/’Oumuamua and a thousand times more massive than 2I/Borisov, while moving faster than both.

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Measurements show that 3I/ATLAS is moving at 245,000 kilometers per hour, making it the fastest known object ever observed within the solar system. The comet is expected to pass unusually close to Venus, Mars and Jupiter this fall, an alignment Loeb calculates as having a probability of just 0.005% if the arrival time were random.

Scientific community divided

Richard Moissl, head of planetary defense at the European Space Agency, told Newsweek there have been no signs pointing to non-natural origins of 3I/ATLAS in the available observations. He believes the most likely explanation is a natural origin, likely from an orbit around a star somewhere in the galaxy.

Loeb argues that the international community should get on the same page about what to do if extraterrestrials or their drones come into proximity with Earth. “We should keep our eyes open and not assume anything because it could be a ‘black swan event,’ where something that looks natural at first ends up being like a Trojan Horse,” Loeb said.

Monitoring campaign launched

The International Asteroid Warning Network initiated a campaign to monitor 3I/ATLAS, marking the first time the planetary defense collaboration has targeted an interstellar object. The campaign will run from November 27 through January 27, 2026, to introduce methods for improving astrometry from comet observations.

3I/ATLAS will get closest to Earth on December 19, 2025. Loeb acknowledged in the paper that by far the most likely outcome is that 3I/ATLAS is a completely natural interstellar object, probably a comet. However, he argues that considering the technological hypothesis is important because of its potentially huge implications for humanity.

Should scientists take seriously the possibility that anomalous interstellar objects could be alien technology, even if the probability is low?

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