The mysterious interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS is just hours away from making its closest approach to Earth as researchers continue to caution it’s not acting like a normal comet.
On December 19, 3I/ATLAS is projected to come within 170million miles of our planet, which is close enough for people to see with small telescopes or cameras but still far enough away to not pose any threat of collision, NASA has said.
The space agency has also declared that they have found no evidence pointing to the object being artificially constructed or harboring extraterrestrial life, concluding that it’s a large space rock from a distant solar system.
However, some researchers have pushed back on this declaration, revealing several strange anomalies that still cannot be explained by science, including one study linking the interstellar visitor to cosmic calendars used by ancient civilizations.
Independent researcher and author Andrew Collins has shown evidence that a mysterious ‘heartbeat’ emanating from the object pulsed in a 15.48-hour cycle that strangely aligned with Earth’s 24-hour day.
Scans this summer previously showed that it had been blasting out in rhythmic bursts every 16.16 hours precisely, but new data from Spain‘s Two-meter Twin Telescope in September found this number had changed slightly as it neared Earth.
It’s unclear if something within 3I/ATLAS physically changed or if scientists have just gathered more precise measurements, but Collins noted that the strange pulsations line up perfectly with timing systems used by the ancient Chinese and Indians.
On November 19, administrators from NASA held a press conference where they declared 3I/ATLAS a comet and reported that the agency hadn’t detected any technosignatures, technological traces of intelligent life.
Amateur stargazers will be able to capture clear images of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS (Pictured) using common telescopes on Friday as it nears Earth
The findings revealed in Collins’ paper were based on Earth-based and space telescope data that have been tracking 3I/ATLAS since it was discovered near our solar system in July.
Using the readings collected in September, Collins explained that the object’s so-called heartbeat appeared to follow an ancient 144-second timing system used by old Chinese clocks and Indian meditation practices.
He broke down the comet’s pulses of brightness and found that the new 15.48-hour cycle fit into exactly 387 of these units, while Earth’s full 24-hour day fits precisely into 600, which Collins said was too perfect to be a coincidence.
Collins suggested this sync might mean the comet has been ‘broadcasting’ a universal math pattern, hinting at intelligent design rather than random chance, and tying our planet’s spin to age-old ideas of cosmic rhythms.
Simply put, the study author claimed that the alleged comet’s pulses have been too regular, like a signal rather than random outbursts of gaseous particles being struck by the sun as the comet rotates, as other astronomers have suggested.
Collins has been a history and science writer for over 40 years, specializing in ancient mysteries, alternative history, astronomy, and lost civilizations. He’s written over 15 books exploring these topics.
In the new paper, Collins referenced the work of Avi Loeb, the head of the Galileo Project, a research group looking for extraterrestrial life, who has been studying this heartbeat and a dozen other strange clues tied to the alleged comet.
One of those was the object ejecting particles of DNA building blocks, such as methanol and hydrogen cyanide, which Loeb has hypothesized could mean 3I/ATLAS has been seeding nearby planets like Mars, Venus, and Jupiter with life.
3I/ATLAS is projected to reach its closest point to Earth on Friday, December 19, when it gets within 170million miles of the planet
Other anomalies Loeb has documented include the object speeding up strangely without the help of gravity, its near-impossible path that takes the object near multiple planets, and 3I/ATLAS appearing to come from the same direction as the famous 1977 ‘alien’ radio signal called the ‘Wow! Signal.’
‘The many anomalies associated with 3I/ATLAS strongly hint that it is not a mundane comet but what might be described as a directed comet,’ Collins said in his paper submitted to ResearchGate.
The author explained that if 3I/ATLAS were a ‘directed comet,’ it could be an intelligent form of life that ‘wakes up’ in star systems, using a super-hot gas called plasma to think and act.
Both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have dismissed any theories that 3I/ATLAS is anything more than a lifeless comet with a unique chemical mixture created by its home solar system.
However, Professor Loeb recently appeared on The Danny Jones Podcast and slammed NASA for failing to consider all of the possibilities surrounding 3I/ATLAS as it nears Earth tomorrow.
Loeb has focused heavily on the object’s massive size and so-called ‘anti-tail,’ a stream of particles pointing at the sun instead of away from it like a normal comet’s tail – which Loeb has suggested could be a sign of a spacecraft’s engine.
‘How do you explain the large mass of the object quantitatively, not just say “oh, comets are weird and some of them are unusual and therefore it’s okay.” That’s not an explanation,’ Loeb said.
Color-enhanced images shared by multiple social media users revealed 3I/ATLAS developed a strange green glow as it neared Mars and the sun in October
Loeb previously told Daily Mail that the object’s size, at roughly three miles in length, is yet another clue that it may not be a comet, as there isn’t enough rocky material in interstellar space to have created such a structure naturally.
‘You need to explain that, you can’t just ignore it. This is not politics, we are talking about science here,’ he continued during the December 8 podcast.
‘You can’t just be a bureaucrat who makes statements, and everyone should believe you because of your authority. That’s not the way science is done.’
NASA has also been slammed for an October press conference, which released low-quality images of 3I/ATLAS despite the space agency’s Mars space probes coming within 18million miles of the object.
Meanwhile, amateur stargazers have been able to take even sharper images from here on Earth using common telescopes and photography equipment, sparking conspiracy theories that NASA has been hiding information about the visitor.
The public will have its best chance to view 3I/ATLAS using telescopes with a lens as small as five inches starting tonight at 11pm ET.
Viewers should focus on looking east to northeast. During the early pre-dawn hours on Friday, the object should appear right under Regulus, a star at the heart of the constellation Leo.
