Mysterious Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Shows Unprecedented Non-Gravitational Acceleration Near Sun – Harvard Astrophysicist Avi Loeb Says Data Reveals Two-Component Push

Professor Loeb acknowledges the blue appearance could potentially indicate ionized carbon monoxide emissions consistent with natural comet chemistry, yet he refuses to dismiss the alternative hypothesis that has made 3I/ATLAS a subject of intense debate since its discovery.

The possibility of an internal propulsion system or artificial light source remains on the table as scientists await definitive observational data. The measured acceleration level produces only a modest spatial deviation of roughly ten times Earth’s radius over a month, insufficient to significantly alter the object’s gravitational path toward any Solar System planet, yet substantial enough to confirm something beyond pure gravitational forces is acting on 3I/ATLAS.

Drawing from his experience leading Harvard’s Institute for Theory and Computation, Loeb emphasized during a recent astrophysics luncheon that dismissing observational anomalies simply because they lack elegant theoretical explanations represents poor scientific practice.