The 26-Day Window
As 3I/ATLAS approaches its closest point to Earth on December 19th, telescopes around the world will be trained on this visitor with unprecedented coordination.
What could push 3I/ATLAS higher on the Loeb Scale in the next 26 days? Any unexpected trajectory changes, the detection of electromagnetic signals, evidence of deployed sub-objects, or maneuvers that can’t be explained by gravitational forces or outgassing would trigger a reclassification upward.
The probability calculations that govern scientific analysis suggest that if anomalies continue accumulating at their current rate, and if observations during the closest approach reveal additional unexplained characteristics, a Level 5 classification could become necessary. But science doesn’t work on speculation — it works on evidence.
What We’re Really Asking
Strip away the technical jargon and the Loeb Scale rankings, and we’re left with a fundamental question that has haunted humanity since we first looked up at the stars: Are we alone?
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has proposed hypothetically that 3I/ATLAS could be a “mothership” designed to deploy technological devices near Jupiter, though he emphasizes this is a thought experiment to explore what evidence would look like.
Most scientists believe 3I/ATLAS is natural in origin. The Level 4 classification doesn’t claim otherwise — it simply acknowledges that the accumulated anomalies are significant enough that we must thoroughly investigate all possibilities.
