He thought NASA wasn’t being entirely forthcoming.
Scientist Avi Loeb has accused NASA of withholding crucial information about 3I/ATLAS — a Manhattan-sized interstellar comet he suggests could have extraterrestrial origins. The Harvard astrophysicist made these claims during a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience.
Loeb explained that the comet’s behavior didn’t match what’s expected. He pointed out that its jet-like emissions were directed toward the Sun rather than away from it, as is typical, and noted that he “didn’t see any cometary tail here.”
Astrophysicist Avi Loeb noted that the comet’s jet-like emissions pointed toward the Sun instead of away, as is typical, and added that he “didn’t see any cometary tail here.”
That’s when he dropped what some are calling the NASA bombshell. “Amazingly, the best image was captured on October 2, 2025, when 3I/ATLAS passed within 30 million kilometers of Mars,” Loeb said.
He claimed the image was taken by NASA’s HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, but that it “was never released.”
“I wrote to the principal investigator of HiRISE, asking, ‘Can I get the data? I’m a scientist,’” Loeb said, adding that he received “no response.”
When asked whether this suggested NASA was withholding sensational data, he replied, “It’s much more likely not to be related to extraterrestrial intelligence, but to terrestrial stupidity.”
So far, NASA has not confirmed the existence of such an image or any intentional withholding of data.
The Post has reached out to NASA for comment.
3I/ATLAS as captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
During the Rogan interview, Loeb suggested that the photo could have challenged NASA’s claim that the comet’s unusual jet had transformed into a typical tail last month.
The astrophysicist likened the situation to an animal wandering into your yard, only for your family to insist it’s just a “street cat” — even if it has a tail growing out of its forehead.
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera on July 21.
Loeb has previously speculated that 3I/ATLAS — only the third interstellar object ever observed entering our solar system — could have extraterrestrial origins for several reasons.
In addition to its unusual tail orientation, Loeb pointed out that the comet was ejecting a plume of four grams of nickel per second without any detectable iron, a phenomenon unheard of in comets. He also highlighted the comet’s nongravitational acceleration and anomalous trajectory, which will bring it unusually close to Jupiter, Venus, and Mars, raising suspicions that it could be a hostile alien probe sent to observe Earth.
NASA, however, maintains that 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth and could provide valuable data to help protect the planet in the future.
From November 27, 2025, through January 27, 2026, the NASA-backed International Asteroid Warning Network will run a “comet campaign” aimed at refining methods for tracking the comet’s position. The global coalition of space experts will also hold a workshop on techniques for accurately measuring comet astrometry — transformations like rotation or reflection that adjust an object’s orientation without changing its shape or size.
The data gathered from this campaign is expected to serve as a blueprint for monitoring other potentially hazardous asteroids and comets in the future.
