Harvard Astronomer Suggests Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS May Deploy Devices Near Jupiter

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, discovered on July 1, 2025, by the ATLAS telescope in Chile, is set to make its closest approach to Earth in late November, coming within approximately 170 million miles. Three months later, it is expected to pass near Jupiter, following a highly eccentric trajectory through the solar system.

Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has suggested that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien spacecraft, a theory that has drawn criticism from the mainstream scientific community. Loeb points to recent non-gravitational acceleration of the object, which appears to direct it toward Jupiter's Hill radius—the region where the planet's gravity dominates. He proposes that if 3I/ATLAS is indeed an extraterrestrial probe, it might be maneuvering to deploy technological devices around Jupiter.

"If we find technological satellites of Jupiter that we did not send, it would imply that Jupiter is of interest to an extraterrestrial civilization," Loeb stated.

However, many experts, including NASA officials, remain unconvinced. They attribute the observed acceleration to natural outgassing processes typical of comets. NASA associate administrator Amit Kshatriya addressed these claims, emphasizing the lack of evidence supporting the spacecraft hypothesis.

As 3I/ATLAS continues its journey, astronomers are closely monitoring its behavior to gather more data and better understand its nature.