The mystery object hurtling through our solar system has just done the unthinkable.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has confirmed that 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar visitor from beyond our solar system, performed a powered maneuver as it passed the Sun on October 29 — a movement that cannot be explained by gravity alone.
In official terms, scientists called it a case of “non-gravitational acceleration.” In simpler words: something pushed it.
That push was recorded in two distinct phases — one that propelled it away from the Sun, and another that nudged it sideways, as though it was under intelligent control.
For months, space agencies have insisted 3I/ATLAS is “just a comet.” But the data no longer fits that story. According to the JPL readings, the object’s acceleration doesn’t match what natural outgassing can produce. Even veteran physicists are starting to admit something strange is happening.
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb — one of the few scientists willing to go on record — says the so-called comet is displaying way more thrust than physics can explain.
“The blue color could be a signature of ionized carbon monoxide — or a hot engine,” Loeb told the Daily Mail. “The non-gravitational acceleration could result from cometary evaporation — or technological propulsion.”
He’s not exaggerating. As 3I/ATLAS neared the Sun, it didn’t just get brighter — it flared up 7.5 times faster than an ordinary comet. And instead of turning red like every frozen rock we’ve ever seen, it went bluer than the Sun itself.
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| The comet has been seen accelerating beyond the natural power of gravity as it moves around the sun |
Loeb says a natural explanation is still possible — but only if the comet somehow lost 10% of its mass in one month, ejecting a massive gas cloud that should be visible by December.
If not, the alternative becomes harder to ignore.
Adding to the mystery, astronomers observed 3I/ATLAS forming an “anti-tail” that pointed toward the Sun — before flipping direction like a reversing spacecraft. Its course also took it past three planets in a near-impossible trajectory, while chemical analysis revealed a rare mix of nickel and carbon dioxide unlike any known comet in our system.
Loeb now counts this as the ninth anomaly linked to 3I/ATLAS — and calculates the odds of all of them occurring by chance at roughly one in ten quadrillion.
He’s also warning that too many scientists are afraid to even talk about it.
“Those in the community who dismiss these possibilities are more concerned with being right than alerting the public,” Loeb said. “We could be facing something that affects humanity in a dramatic way.”
So what exactly is 3I/ATLAS? A comet from another star — or something that was sent here on purpose?
NASA isn’t saying. But one thing’s now confirmed: it moved under its own power.