A mysterious space anomaly has galvanized attention, still generates hype and division, and ignores us silly naked apes as we continue to threaten ourselves and our biosphere with industrial pollution and weapons of mass destruction
3i/ATLAS is neither a regular comet nor an alien spaceship. There is abundantly ample information already out describing the discovery and history of 3i/ATLAS, the numerous theories regarding what it is and isn’t, the hyperbole and drama around it, the origins of its distinctive name, and its numerous anomalies, so we won’t bother repeating such nauseum ad nauseum.
Truth is we don’t really know what 3i/ATLAS is nor do we well understand it. Beware of anyone who does, even with NASA pedigrees. Perhaps the greatest anomaly of all is the infighting between scientists over what this odd object from elsewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy is and the refusal by so many to even recognize many of the anomalies are more representative of an artificially construct than a natural one as well as how quickly a few others go to the other extremes of it being fully an technological artifact. Am not going to repeat all of these arguments over recognizing and interpreting these anomalies here.
This enigmatic object has many characteristics of a comet, but also many characteristics that are not comet-like. Nor is it an asteroid or some dual comet-asteroid hybrid object. There are so many anomalies it doesn’t behave like a comet. Some following this object have counted up to 14 anomalies. Others, uncritically presenting mainstream scientific orthodox religiosity, claim it doesn’t have any actual anomalies as the object is merely a strange one from different star systems with divergent chemistry. Aw, C’mon, guys.
Doesn’t behave like an asteroid either. Nor is it such a big deal it’s “only the third interstellar object detected” in our solar system. Our star system is many billions of years old. Interstellar objects from across the galaxy have most likely entered and exited many times. Ditto for objects flung out from our system into the rest of the galaxy. We exist within and along the Orion Arm of our spiral galaxy, about halfway between Galactic Center and the more nebulous fringes of the furthest edges. And we’re all rotating and revolving as we spin thru space and time. Regardless, our enigmatic visitor is more comet than asteroid but doesn’t fully behave as either. Perhaps it is a so-called “space seed,” a remnant from a long-ago solar system formation flung out into space by gravitational anomalies and collisions. We don’t know, however, what such a space seed would actually look like.
Furthermore, 3i/ATLAS does not behave like any spacecraft either. True, we Earth Humans don’t know what NHI craft would actually look like any behind the various UFO/UAP/USO presentations. We don’t know for what purposes some ancient civilization may have taken a prehistoric asteroid or comet, modified it into a spaceship, and then send it caroming across the Milky Way on an interstellar journey. Even if it is indeed a “dead alien artifact” with a long-dead crew with a giant, AI space robot stuck on autopilot, then what, when, and where does such speculation without any tangible evidence ever end? There is comparatively more evidence to support claims the problems of antigravity were resolved and classified back in the mid-1950s, that zero-point energy from the vacuum can be harnessed and was also classified, and entire sections of physics associated with NHI technology were classified by the US Government for those paying attention to UAP issues.
The claim Galactic Enigma 3i/ATLAS is either a gigantic alien spacecraft or a fleet of smaller vessels out zooming around between the starts makes no sense, at least not from the mind of us Early-21st Century Earth Humans. For what reason would any species expend enormous amounts of energy and resources to enter into a solar system as diverse and biorich as ours only to zip along as fantastical speeds? And not leverage antigravity-based propulsion or zero-point energy or time-bending space-warping “faster than light” technology? And not pause to orbit around our Solarian planets and moons to explore them more thoroughly than zip along on a high-speed flyby? Maybe one peek at our violent, quarrelsome species with our inability to unite ourselves to tackle our myriad existential challenges while we stockpile thermonuclear weapons and run amok with AI is enough to make them speed up to get the heck out of here.
Scientists noted 3i/ATLAS originated from the constellation Sagittarius, the same region the famous WOW! radio signal of 1977 originated from. It’s also the general direction NASA robotic spacecraft Voyager 2 seems to be heading towards. The WOW! signal, which seemed likely to be from an NHI civilization but wasn’t ever repeated, is said to be 9° from the estimated course of 3i/ATLAS. Nine degrees, however, is still a long, long ways from the actual trajectory of the comet-not-a-comet comet. Such an observation is indeed curious, but not even a coincidence. It’s either synchronicity or pareidolia. It’s unlikely to be synchronicity as 9° isn’t 100 percent the same point in spacetime.
Tomorrow, Friday the 19th of December 2025, whatever 3i/ATLAS truly is will reach perigee, it’s closet point to our planet along its trajectory thru our solar system. “Closest” has been misinterpreted by many as “will orbit Earth,” crash into Earth, or even “invade” Earth. Nope. It’s a flyby, a flyby on its way out of here. This comet-not-a-comet-comet-whatever will fly closer to Jupiter than to Earth. The Jovian giant is, after all, the largest planet in our star system. At perigee, however, 3i/ATLAS will be about two times further away than our planet is from our star. This interstellar object is expected to be close to 270 million kilometers or about 168 million miles away from Planet Earth at perigee. It most likely won’t slow down to sidle over to us and loom across our skies to scare the bejeebers out of all Humanity.
What is most likely to occur is this galactic enigma will shoot on out of the solar system back out into the Orion Arm and never return. At the same time, however, its strange appearance seems to have triggered a degree of cosmic awe and psychospiritual mystery unseen since the Lunar landings and those first images of our little blue and white planet from Outer Space. Eventually in a universe as vast as ours and with the possibility of multiple universes and timelines we must openly engage with Non-Human Intelligences, including biological, machine, and divine. Let’s not destroy ourselves first. We must find healthier, more constructive ways to get along with each other down in this small, rocky, water world of ours vast among the stars.
William Dudley Bass
Tuesday 16 December 2025
Thursday 18 December 2025
Shoreline/Seattle, WA
Earth
Sol
The Milky Way
Copyright © 2025 by William Dudley Bass. All Rights Reserved by the Author & his Descendants until we Humans establish Wise Stewardship over and for our Earth and Solarian Commons. Thank you.