Shocking twist as ‘alien’ visitor seen from Earth
A sudden radio signal has scientists on edge as a mystery object once believed to be far from Earth, abruptly blazes into the night sky.
Space-watchers, hold on to your telescopes. The interstellar visitor we’ve all been buzzing about just threw a curveball.
The mystery surrounding 3I/ATLAS has taken another wild turn, as new observations suggest the “Manhattan-sized” object is accelerating in ways scientists can’t fully explain and, stranger still, it’s turning bluer as it speeds through the solar system.
That colour shift has reignited talk that 3I/ATLAS might not be your average cosmic rock — but something far more engineered.
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who made headlines for floating a similar theory about ‘Oumuamua in 2018, believes the new data hints at possible signs of an alien engine.
Loeb told The Post that the interstellar comet shows “the first evidence of a non-gravitational acceleration,” suggesting it could be the “technological signature of an internal engine.”
He added: “If we do not observe a massive cloud of gas around 3I/ATLAS in December, it could be an indicator of a propulsion system.”
He’s not saying little green men are driving it, but argues the object’s acceleration pattern doesn’t match what you’d expect from sunlight or comet jets alone.
Before its latest twist, astronomers expected 3I/ATLAS to behave like a normal interstellar comet when it swung around the Sun on October 29–30, brightening slightly from solar heat before fading as it headed back out.
But the latest update shocked observers — at perihelion, 3I/ATLAS appeared to accelerate in a non-natural way and grow brighter, steering away from the Sun.
Then, on November 9, astronomers reported the first clear detection of a narrow tail jet — a behavior not previously seen in this object, and one that raises new questions about what’s powering its motion.
A viral X post by All day Astronomy noted that while there are possible natural explanations, they’re extremely unlikely.
Even for a “natural” object, 3I/ATLAS isn’t behaving normally - so some now argue that the simplest explanation could be that the object is not natural at all — but intelligently designed and controlled.
Meanwhile, British physicist Brian Cox was quick to fire back on X:
“Just to be clear — given recent drivel online — Comet 3I/ATLAS is a comet, made of carbon dioxide and water ices and bits of other stuff.
“It is entirely natural in origin, its orbit is as expected and it will whizz around the sun and then disappear off into the galaxy again.”
Cox went on to write that if it ever reached another inhabited solar system “in the far future,” he hoped its observers would be “more sensible than us,” calling it a “pristine lump of rock and ice … just passing through.
“Isn’t that wonderful enough?”
In other words: calm down, everyone — it’s just a funky space snowball.
Discovered in July by the ATLAS telescope in Chile, it’s the third confirmed interstellar object to wander through our solar system — after ‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.
Like its predecessors, it’s already breaking the rules.
It’s outgassing an unusually high amount of carbon dioxide compared to water, showing off strange metallic signatures, and zipping along a hyperbolic trajectory — meaning it came from beyond our solar system and will leave again.
Computer models show its acceleration can’t be explained by gravity and standard outgassing alone, while its visible spectrum has shifted to a hue described as “distinctly bluer” than before.
And on November 8 — astronomers disclosed the first detection of a weak, narrowband radio emission coming from the object’s direction.
Though still under analysis and possibly just background interference, the timing of the signal’s emergence has only fueled speculation.
Loeb argues these traits are exactly what make it worth questioning.
NASA, however, remains unconvinced - reassuring that “3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth and will remain far away.”
But in a fun twist for space nerds, astronomers say you can actually now spot the thing yourself.
Contrary to claims that 3I/ATLAS is no longer visible from Earth, space experts say the comet can now be captured by anyone with modest viewing gear.
Astronomer Yicheng Zhang snapped a fresh image of the interstellar anomaly on November 1, uploading it to Cometary.org, where it quickly blew up.
“The comet is easily visible with small telescopes now,” Zhang — a postdoctoral fellow at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona — told The Post.
He explained that he caught the shot using a 152-mm Ritchey–Chrétien reflector - basically a six-inch fancy telescope - noting its visibility is improving because it’s “rising early enough in morning twilight.”
In Zhang’s photo, ATLAS appears as a “slightly fuzzy dot” amid a starfield.
This comes after the intergalactic oddity swung to the far side of the Sun in September, disappearing into solar glare.
At the time, experts said it wouldn’t be visible again until later in November.
But Zhang says the so-called invisibility was more about equipment than celestial positioning.
“A lot of large telescopes, which typically aren’t constructed with comet science in mind, can’t point very close to the horizon, so can’t observe objects particularly close to the sun in twilight.”
Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope also have similar limitations.
Zhang said he used the Lowell Discovery Telescope on October 31 — designed with comet tracking in mind — which can tilt down to just five degrees and “observe much closer to the Sun than most other telescopes of its size.”
Now, he says, “anyone with a telescope of that size and a clear sky plus a low Eastern horizon (ideally less than five degrees) would probably be able to catch it now.
“It’s much easier with a camera, but I expect it can probably be seen visually too with a telescope of that size.”
Michigan State University astronomer Darryl Seligman says ATLAS will be easiest to spot in December, when it reaches its closest point to Earth.
He added that skywatchers can get a glimpse if they can “track it in the sky” with “a good amateur telescope.
“I’d say wait a few more weeks,” he advised, “and then the best shot is always going to the highest and driest place you can get to – ideally away from as much light pollution as possible.”
As for where to look, Seligman said the comet’s path is fairly predictable.
“We know exactly where it’s going to be in the sky at all points in the future,” he said.
The uncertainties caused by “nongravitational accelerations” are minor and don’t make “huge changes for where to point telescopes on any given night.”
He urged skywatchers to check NASA’s JPL Horizons Small Body Database to find its position on any date in the coming months.
For now, 3I/ATLAS remains hundreds of millions of kilometres away.
If it behaves like a typical comet, the “alien probe” chatter will fizzle. But if it keeps up this strange blue-tinged sprint, even the sceptics might have to admit it’s not business as usual.
While the odds say it’s just another rock with attitude, plenty of telescopes will be locked on this December 19 — just in case Harvard’s alien-engine narrative isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds.
Originally published as Shocking twist as ‘alien’ visitor seen from Earth
