New images of 3I/ATLAS show ‘lines that don’t make sense’ as ‘spaceship’ evidence mounts

Israeli scientist Avi Loeb, a theoretical physicist and astrophysicist at Harvard University, has come forward with more new evidence to counteract ‘comet’ claims made by NASA

New “straight line” anomalies spotted coming from the much-talked-about 3I/ATLAS comet/spaceship could be proof that it is possibly connected to extraterrestrials. A long-running battle between NASA and Israeli scientist Avi Loeb has been taking place for months over the mystery space object (probably a comet) called 3I/Atlas.

The make-up of the interstellar visitor has left boffins baffled for months. Some experts claim it is a comet, but theoretical physicist Loeb has suggested it could be an alien “mothership” on a reconnaissance mission as it blasts through the Solar System at 130,000mph.

Even SpaceX chief Elon Musk has conceded it could be of alien origin and urged space chiefs to continue to monitor its approach to make sure we know where it is going.

And while NASA claimed earlier this week that there was basically “nothing to see here” as it was just a comet, Loeb, a theoretical physicist and astrophysicist at Harvard University, has come forward with more new evidence to counteract those claims.

In his latest blog, he posed two questions based on new images showing bizarre straight lines coming from the object.

1. Why are the sideways jets so straight and narrow, resembling thin lines, given that 3I/ATLAS was reported to rotate with a 16.16-hour period?
2. Why are the two sideways jets oriented vertically to the tail and anti-tail associated with the 3I/ATLAS-Sun axis?

On the first, he said: “Given the typical thermal speed of 400 metres per second for sublimated volatiles at the current distance of 3I/ATLAS from the Sun, the rotation of 3I/ATLAS should have introduced gaps or wiggles in the jets on a length-scale of order tens of thousands of kilometres. Such periodic features are not apparent in the new image.”

And of the second, he mused: “We expect outgassing to emerge from the surface of a rock when it faces the Sun. The resulting gas or dust are expected to be pushed away from the Sun by radiation pressure and the solar wind. Both processes favour the 3I/ATLAS-Sun axis as the line of symmetry and not the vertical direction traced by the sideways jets.”

He pointed to the lines and jets possibly being a trail of gas or dust . . . or something more sinister.

Loeb continued: “The mini-objects could either be pieces of ice that broke apart from the surface of a natural comet nucleus or small probes that were released from a technological mothership.

“By monitoring these components in the coming weeks, we should be able to distinguish the two interpretations.

“The fundamental question to address in the coming weeks is whether these smaller objects are real and not an artifact of a satellite streak, and if real— are they natural or technological in origin?”

As always, the truth is, well . . . somewhere.

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