Do 3I/ATLAS’ Recent Movements Confirm It’s an Alien Spaceship?

Our old friend 3I/ATLAS is up to some odd stuff once again. For those unaware, 3I/ATLAS is either a comet that behaves in ways we’re not used to seeing comets behave, or as an alien or alien artifact behaving in ways that I guess aliens or alien artifacts behave. Depends on who you’re asking. If you’re asking NASA, they say just a weird-o comet. If you’re asking Harvard astrophysicist and cosmic provocateur Avi Loeb, it’s probably aliens.

According to 3I/ATLAS’ latest movements, Loeb thinks that whatever it is, it seems to be hitting the brakes to hang around the solar system a little bit longer.

The object is currently hidden behind the Sun, but before it ducked out of sight, telescopes in the Canary Islands caught images showing its tail, which looked flipped in the wrong direction, now pointing toward the Sun. That’s not how comets usually work. I say “usually” because this so-called “auto-tail,” while uncommon, has been observed before.

Thanks to an optical illusion influenced by our perspective and the Sun’s gravity, the comet’s debris trail seems to swing around when it hasn’t actually done anything that dramatic. While the more restrained, measured scientific community explains this phenomenon as basic astronomical geometry, Loeb calls it a possible alien braking maneuver.

In a blog post, Loeb speculated that the “anti-tail” could be thrust exhaust from an intelligent craft trying to slow down and settle into orbit somewhere between Mars and Jupiter. It’s the kind of idea that makes scientists roll their eyes and makes conspiracy theorists’ eyes light up.

We won’t get any answers until December 19, when 3I/ATLAS reemerges from behind the Sun. If it’s taken an unnatural turn, Loeb might be onto something. If not, then maybe it is just a weirdly behaving rock.