Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has revealed shocking evidence that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS has fragmented into at least 16 pieces, displaying unnatural jet patterns and mass loss that defy known physics—raising the explosive possibility that it could be an engineered, non-natural object approaching Earth next month.

In a discovery that could redefine humanity’s understanding of what travels through our solar system, Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has released a new analysis suggesting that 3I/ATLAS, only the third confirmed interstellar comet ever detected, has catastrophically fragmented into at least sixteen distinct pieces—and possibly much more.

The findings, published late Tuesday night in a preprint circulated among top astronomical observatories, are being called “the most significant development in interstellar object research since ‘Oumuamua.

” According to Loeb, the data indicates not only that 3I/ATLAS broke apart, but that the nature of its disintegration defies every conventional explanation of cometary physics.

“This isn’t just a natural body shedding ice,” Loeb said in an interview Wednesday morning.

“The energy output, the jet alignment, and the rate of mass loss are consistent with artificial or engineered behavior.

That’s not a conclusion I reach lightly.”

Discovered in April 2025 by the ATLAS survey in Hawaii, 3I/ATLAS immediately captured astronomers’ attention for its unusual trajectory—originating from interstellar space and entering the solar system on a hyperbolic orbit that ensures it will never return.

In early observations, it appeared faint but stable.

However, by late summer, something changed.

Between August and its perihelion in early October, the comet’s estimated mass loss rate skyrocketed from a modest 150 kilograms per second to nearly 2 million kilograms per second—a 13,000-fold increase that cannot be explained by sunlight or gravitational stress alone.

To absorb enough solar energy to produce such an outburst, the object’s surface area would need to be nearly 617 square miles—yet telescopic data indicated a nucleus only 1 to 2 kilometers wide.

“The math doesn’t work,” said Loeb.

“Unless the object wasn’t one body anymore.”

Indeed, by September, British astronomers Michael Buechner and Frank Niebling at the Jodrell Bank Observatory had captured high-resolution imagery showing unprecedented jet activity—massive plumes extending up to 2.

85 million kilometers, or nearly twice the distance from the Earth to the Sun.

These jets were not random; they were organized, collimated, and directional, forming multiple “anti-tail” structures that seemed to pulse in sequence.

“This kind of coherent jet structure doesn’t make sense for a fragmenting icy nucleus,” noted Niebling during a Royal Astronomical Society teleconference.

“It looks more like thrust control than sublimation.”

The idea that 3I/ATLAS could be under technological control echoes Loeb’s earlier—and controversial—theories about 2017’s interstellar visitor ‘Oumuamua, which he famously suggested could have been an artificial probe or solar sail.

That claim sparked years of debate and divided the astronomical community.

Now, Loeb’s latest findings appear to revive that conversation.

In his new paper, he writes: “If the energy distribution, symmetry, and outgassing patterns cannot be modeled with known physical processes, then we must entertain the possibility of non-natural origins. ”

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) confirmed on Wednesday that 3I/ATLAS remains on a stable inbound trajectory and will reach its closest approach to Earth on December 19, 2025, at a distance of about 0.

56 astronomical units—roughly 52 million miles.

At that time, it will be closely monitored by both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, which are expected to capture direct imagery of its fragments.

Dr.Eliza Grant, an astrophysicist at Caltech who is not involved in Loeb’s research, cautioned against premature conclusions.

“Fragmentation isn’t unusual for comets near perihelion,” she said.

“But I’ll admit the data are strange.

The scale and directionality of the jets—those are hard to explain.”

Yet Loeb insists that the evidence points toward something unprecedented.

“We’re not talking about minor outgassing,” he said.

“We’re seeing a structured event with energy levels beyond what natural cometary processes can sustain.

If it’s artificial, that means there’s technology moving through interstellar space—possibly not ours.”

The implications of such a claim are profound.

If 3I/ATLAS turns out to be an engineered object—or even a fragment of one—it would mark the first observational evidence of extraterrestrial technology ever recorded.

Still, for now, much remains unknown.

Loeb’s team at Harvard’s Galileo Project is preparing to coordinate with the European Southern Observatory and Japan’s Subaru Telescope in December to gather independent confirmation.

In a closing statement, Loeb was characteristically blunt: “Nature doesn’t usually build 16 synchronized engines and send them our way.

Either this is the most extraordinary comet ever found—or it’s proof we’re not alone.”

Whatever the outcome, the world will find out soon.

With 3I/ATLAS racing toward its closest approach in just over a month, the clock is ticking—and every telescope on Earth and in orbit will be watching.