Our Cosmic Humility is on the Line: Will NASA Release the 40-Day-Old HiRISE Images of 3I/ATLAS?
5-minute read
Let’s face it: our existence on Earth is but a fleeting moment in the grand cosmic story. We inhabit a tiny speck of rock orbiting an average star, the Sun, which formed late in the Milky Way’s history. Billions of stars in our galaxy predated the Sun by eons, putting our cosmic resume in humbling perspective. Yet, this very humility should drive us to explore the vast, uncharted expanses of space and time. The universe holds countless mysteries, and our greatest obstacle to uncovering them isn’t the lack of tools, but the arrogance of expertise.
But here’s where it gets controversial... When I was recently interviewed by eight podcasters and reporters—including Gadi Schwartz on NBC News and Elizabeth Vargas on NewsNation—I was asked why comet experts so vehemently dismiss alternative interpretations of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. My response? Experts, like AI systems, often parrot their training data. If you train an AI solely on comets, it will label anything in the sky as a comet, anomalies be damned. This is precisely why 1I/'Oumuamua, which defied comet characteristics by exhibiting non-gravitational acceleration without gas or dust, was labeled a 'dark comet.' Similarly, objects like 2020 SO (a NASA launch) or Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster (a SpaceX payload) behave like 'dark comets' due to their technological origins, yet comet experts exclude such examples from their datasets. Add to this the Pavlovian resistance to new ideas—experts guarding their turf—and you have a recipe for stubborn dismissal.
Take the recent observations of seven jets around 3I/ATLAS. Experts insist these must stem from sublimating ice on a rock, not thrusters on a spacecraft. And this is the part most people miss... If 3I/ATLAS were a natural comet, its perihelion fireworks should produce measurable fragments, speed, and composition. As it approaches Earth on December 19, 2025, we’ll have the chance to test this. Science thrives on curiosity and humility, not ego-driven politics or social media echo chambers.
Speaking of politics, the government shutdown delayed the release of HiRISE images of 3I/ATLAS, captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on October 2–3, 2025. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna even tweeted her support for releasing this data, held 'hostage' for 40 days. Scientific knowledge should never be secondary to bureaucratic red tape.
The public’s fascination with 3I/ATLAS is unprecedented. Just yesterday, while ordering a new dishwasher, the attendant recognized my voice from podcasts and interviews, eagerly asking for updates. Starting November 11, 2025, Earth-based observatories can resume studying 3I/ATLAS as it moves farther from the Sun’s glare.
Here’s where it gets even more provocative... I’ve placed a formal bet with Michael Shermer of the Skeptics Society: by December 31, 2030, we’ll have undeniable evidence of an extraterrestrial technological artifact. The stakes? The winnings go to the Galileo Project, which I lead. With billions of Earth-like systems in the Milky Way—many older than ours—and our own Voyager probes set to traverse the galaxy in under a billion years, the search for extraterrestrial technology isn’t just plausible; it’s imperative. As I’ve said, 'Life is sometimes a self-fulfilling prophecy.' Let’s approach this interstellar blind date with optimism.
Now, I turn it to you: Do you think 3I/ATLAS could be more than just a comet? Or is the scientific community right to dismiss alternative theories? Let’s spark a discussion in the comments!
About the Author:
Avi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University’s Black Hole Initiative, and director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He is the bestselling author of Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth and co-author of Life in the Cosmos. His latest book, Interstellar, explores humanity’s quest to understand our place in the cosmos.
