The interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS has baffled astronomers by displaying a behavior that contradicts the very laws of physics. Unlike typical comets, whose tails always point away from the Sun due to solar radiation pressure, 3I/ATLAS’s tail appears to be stretching toward the Sun.
In August, the Two-Meter Twin Telescope in the Canary Islands detected a thin stream of gas and dust about 6 kilometers long, emerging from the comet’s nucleus and pointing directly at the Sun. Harvard astrophysicist Prof. Avi Loeb highlighted the anomaly, calling it an “anti-tail” and posing a provocative question: “What is the true nature of this anti-tail, and why are comet experts ignoring it?”
The Hubble Space Telescope later confirmed similar findings. Images captured in late July showed a bright structure extending sunward, about ten times longer than it is wide. Loeb described the phenomenon as a “jet geometry facing the Sun,” comparing its discovery to “seeing a cat grow a tail on its forehead.”
Both ground-based and space-based observations confirm that material from 3I/ATLAS is moving toward the Sun, contradicting established physical laws governing comet behavior. Loeb suggests two possible explanations: either the object is ejecting large, heavy particles unaffected by sunlight, or an unknown mechanism of gas emission is at play.
However, the professor also raises a bold hypothesis — that 3I/ATLAS might not be entirely natural. He speculates that it could be a technological object disguised as a comet, perhaps even a kind of interstellar Trojan Horse.
Scientists are now eagerly awaiting October 29, 2025, when 3I/ATLAS will make its closest approach to the Sun. If it is indeed a typical comet, it’s expected to disintegrate during this encounter. NASA, however, maintains that the object is completely natural, noting that recent images taken near Mars show a cylindrical shape and a greenish glow.