KEY FINDINGS
- The latest thermal frame reveals jets that refuse to obey the Sun.
- The anti-tail points into the solar wind as if pushed from within.
- What we’re seeing now challenges every natural explanation left on the table.
A new thermal-spectrum image exposes jet behavior that should not exist in any natural comet known to science.
By Samuel Lopez | USA Herald – The image attached to this report, captured on November 29, 2025 at 21:53 UTC by Teerasak Thaluang in Rayong, Thailand, may be the most analytically explosive thermal-spectrum view of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS yet documented. Taken with a 0.26-meter f/4.2 reflector and a cumulative exposure of 1.417 hours, the image shows two unmistakably collimated jets—one angled sharply sunward, forming a pronounced anti-tail, and a second jet firing almost orthogonally as if under directional control rather than passive sublimation.
This is not conjecture. The thermal-enhanced data display discrete, linear, point-to-source jets that remain tightly structured across frames, resisting the expected dispersion that natural dust entrainment would produce. The Sun sits at 294 degrees relative orientation, and yet a major jet is firing directly toward it, defying the simplest requirements of solar physics and radiation pressure.
As a legal analyst trained in forensic pattern analysis, the first anomaly that stands out is symmetry. Natural comets rarely produce jets of equal luminosity and directional stability unless driven by large, persistent vents activated by solar heating. Here, the jets are not only sustained but appear structured, with one beam exhibiting a uniform thermal intensity gradient—suggestive of controlled mass ejection rather than chaotic sublimation.
The anti-tail is equally concerning: instead of trailing behind the object, dust is being projected sunward with deliberate force. Under Newtonian expectation, solar radiation pressure should scatter such material back into a traditional tail, not form a razor-straight jet cutting directly into the solar vector.
Telemetry embedded in the field-of-view readout further reinforces the peculiarity. At the moment of capture, 3I/ATLAS was approximately 1.924 AU from Earth and 1.775 AU from the Sun. The direction of its anomalous jet activity cannot be reconciled with the standard thermodynamic models of coma formation, especially given the object’s reported 16.16-hour pulse variability. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb’s newest analysis becomes immediately relevant here: the object’s 16.16-hour brightness modulation cannot be due to nucleus rotation, because the nucleus contributes less than 1% of the total light.
Instead, Loeb argues, the periodic surges correspond to pulsed jets—a term that radically transforms the conversation, because pulsed mass ejection requires either (1) a rotationally rhythmic natural mechanism such as a huge, isolated ice reservoir, or (2) a technological control system capable of timed discharge.
Breaking down Loeb’s mathematical point in plain language: if the nucleus were large enough to account for the brightness swings, it would have to be between 10 and 23 kilometers in radius—contradicted entirely by Hubble data showing a nucleus no larger than ~2.8 kilometers.
Therefore, the only viable explanation is that the coma itself brightens and dims, meaning the jets—not the nucleus—are pulsing like a mechanical heartbeat. Natural comets do not behave like this unless a very specific ice pocket is exposed intermittently to the Sun. But in the thermal capture we are publishing here, the brightest jet is not even pointing toward the Sun. This means the 16.16-hour heartbeat cannot be explained by solar-facing geometry alone.
If the jets are pulsed and at least one of them is misaligned with the Sun, this raises a possibility Loeb has repeatedly alluded to: directional, non-gravitational thrust. In other words, the object may be “steering,” albeit subtly, as Oumuamua did with its anomalous acceleration—another case the scientific establishment dismissed until the data refused to cooperate with conventional models.
The Thailand capture reveals linear jets aligned with a precision that would be extraordinarily rare in a natural object under volatile outgassing. The sharp collimation resembles engineered exhaust more than chaotic sublimation bloom.
Another forensic detail that deserves mention is the speed. The reported sky motion of 2.32 arcminutes per minute—already extreme for a distant object—combined with the jet vectors suggests a dynamic system, not a passive ice boulder. The uniform directionality of the thermal trails implies sustained thrust rather than random venting. When analyzed across consecutive frames, there is no visible rotational smear, meaning the jet orientation holds steady over substantial intervals. Natural comets spin. Their jets wobble. This one does not.
The broader implications fall naturally into the planetary-defense discussion. If 3I/ATLAS possesses controlled or pulsed jets, then its trajectory may not remain predictable by classical gravity-only models. NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) has emphasized the importance of early detection and reliable orbit prediction, but interstellar objects with active propulsion—natural or otherwise—introduce a domain PDCO is not currently configured to handle. Stability of heading, intentional acceleration, and periodic pulsation all complicate standard observation windows and impact-risk forecasting.
The Thailand thermal capture forces a reckoning: we are looking at an object that does not behave like a natural comet. Whether this is due to exotic physics, previously unknown volatile mechanisms, or something more intentional, remains an open question. But the evidence is no longer subtle. It is bright, linear, collimated, and firing jets directly into the Sun.
“Periodic variability of this magnitude cannot come from the nucleus alone. It must come from the jets.” — Avi Loeb
3I/ATLAS continues to evolve rapidly, and we will keep monitoring every frame as new data arrives.
