3I/ATLAS ENCOUNTER Imminent with Space Probes

NASA’s Europa Clipper and the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft are preparing for an unexpected encounter with 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar visitor currently racing through our solar system. According to the Daily Mail, between October 25th and November 6th, both spacecraft will pass through the ion tail of 3I/ATLAS, a stream of charged particles extending millions of miles from the comet’s core. Samuel Grant from the Finnish Meteorological Institute emphasized that we have virtually no data on the interior composition of interstellar comets, making this tail sampling the closest method available for obtaining direct samples from another part of the galaxy.

However, the situation has sparked debate about whether this represents genuine scientific interest or something more concerning. In a recent episode of Weaponized, Jeremy Corbell stated he believes the object is “absolute nonsense,” suggesting intelligence agencies have been pushing narratives about incoming threats for years. Despite his skepticism about disinformation campaigns, Corbell emphasized that progress on UAP topics will be “won not through apathy and retreat” but through “persistence and attrition.”

What makes 3I/ATLAS unusual are its documented anomalies. According to calculations published by Avi Loeb the object weighs more than 33 billion tons — at least 1,000 times more massive than previous interstellar objects — yet its gravitational pull is far weaker than expected. Additionally, imaging from the Nordic Optical Telescope confirms that between July and September, 3I/ATLAS completely reversed its jet direction, transforming from an unusual anti-tail pointing toward the Sun into a conventional tail pointing away.

The timing of the object’s passage has also raised questions. According to Loeb, 3I/ATLAS will reach perihelion on October 29th at approximately 203 million kilometers from the Sun, positioned directly behind the Sun from Earth’s perspective during what he describes as the optimal window for an Oberth maneuver — the most efficient moment for any spacecraft to change trajectory. Loeb suggested there is “a possibility” that “the gases coming out of 3I/ATLAS having a technological origin” and that “the object is preparing to do some kind of a maneuver.”

New images from the Nordic Optical Telescope, in the Canary Islands, Spain. The evolution of the glow around 3I/ATLAS shows a transition from an anti-tail towards the Sun to a tail away from the Sun. The brightest pixel is marked by a red dot. Sunward is West and distance from Sun at each date is expressed in units of the Earth-Sun separation (au). (Credit: Jewitt and Luu 2025) — Description from Avi Loeb

Perhaps most intriguing is the connection to the famous WOW Signal. 3I/ATLAS came from approximately the same direction in the sky as the 1977 narrowband radio signal detected by the Big Ear Radio Telescope — within nine degrees, with only a 0.6 percent chance of random alignment.

The International Asteroid Warning Network, a group associated with the United Nations, has mobilized a coordinated global observation campaign between November 27th and January 27th, according to an official circular issued by the Minor Planet Center on October 21st. The Europa Clipper encounter will capture data using plasma instruments and magnetometers to detect any unusual materials or signatures that do not match natural cometary composition. The European Space Agency’s JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) spacecraft will observe it in November 2025, though data will not be available until February 2026, followed by the object’s closest approach to Earth on December 19th, 2025, and NASA’s Juno spacecraft observations during a Jupiter flyby on March 16th, 2026. According to Loeb, by January we should have a good idea about the nature of this object.

Sources

FOX 10 Phoenix. (2025, October 23). Possible ‘black swan’ event from interstellar object | FOX 10 Talks | FOX 10 Phoenix [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhhJvkMBpuI

FOX 32 Chicago. (2025, October 1). Avi Loeb calls for UN to investigate interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf0xB3EtQX0

Jeremy Corbell. (2025, October 22). Is UFO disclosure dead? : WEAPONIZED : EP #94 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtyoHMIUY60

Liberatore, S. (2025, October 24). Interstellar visitor now hurtling toward NASA spacecraft’s path in a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15223893/interstellar-visitor-3I-ATLAS-NASA-spacecraft.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=social-twitter_dailymailau

NewsNation. (2025, October 23). Suspicious comet may herald ‘black swan event’: Astrophysicist Avi Loeb | Elizabeth Vargas Reports [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le8tpn1JrSw