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A Harvard physicist has asserted that new images of the Manhattan-sized interstellar object rocketing through our inner solar system back his claim that it’s not a comet — but instead possibly an alien probe that may “destroy us.”
Dr. Avi Loeb is pointing to apparent smoking guns emanating from 31/ATLAS — the object discovered in early July motoring past Earth which NASA officials have deemed a simple, though aberrational, comet.
“Usually, for comets, you see a tail trailing behind the object,” Loeb told CNN Thursday.
“Here, the glow is actually in front of it. We’ve never seen such a thing. A comet doesn’t glow in front.”
the front of its motion, contrary to how comets move. Jewitt et al. 2025
Loeb then called the glow “puzzling” in a blog post and implied that the object could be directed by an intelligent species with their sights set on our pale blue dot.
“It may come to save us or destroy us. We’d better be ready for both options and check whether all interstellar objects are rocks.”
Loeb cited two new images from The Hubble Space Telescope that show a concentration of light in front of the interstellar rock.
The images, taken on July 21, represent the most recent publicly available data on the 31/ATLAS.
In a blog post Wednesday, the theoretical astrophysicist wrote, “The existence of a glow ahead of 31/ATLAS but no evidence of gas molecules is puzzling.”
Loeb further reiterated claims made in a paper last month regarding the object’s suspiciously specific flight path through our inner solar system.
“It lies in the plane of the orbits of the planets around the sun to within five degrees,” Loeb explained to CNN.
“It will arrive closest to the sun when the Earth is on the opposite side. We won’t be able to observe it. But that’s the perfect time for it to maneuver.”
In his recent paper, Loeb suggested that the pathway is ideal for observing and measuring the motion of the spheres in our solar system.
The object will come closest to the Sun on Halloween and the intervening time will provide the best opportunity to glean information from the object.
“We will have a better assessment of this probability within a month or two, once 31/ATLAS gets brighter and easier to observe as it approaches the Sun,” Loeb wrote in a blog post last week.
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla) is answering Loeb’s calls for increased and vigilant observation of 31/ATLAS.
“I’m urging NASA to extend the Juno mission to study interstellar object 31/ATLAS,” Rep. Luna wrote on X last week.
“Thank you Avi Loeb for your continued dedication to exploring our universe. We must seize this opportunity for groundbreaking discovery.”
English (US)