When an object arrives from outside our solar system, scientists pay attention. When that object refuses to behave the way a comet should, they start asking deeper questions. For astronomy educator Gary Boyle, the phenomenon called 3I Atlas is now forcing a kind of curiosity the public has never had to confront.
Boyle, known widely as The Backyard Astronomer and a former president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Ottawa Centre, has been watching the unfolding situation closely. Speaking from Ontario, he described Atlas as an object unlike anything modern astronomy has encountered.
“Three I is the third interstellar object astronomers have ever seen,” Boyle said. “The path seems to be coming from the middle of the Milky Way in Sagittarius, which is pretty odd.”
He added that the object’s incoming direction is striking. In 1977, a 72-second radio burst known as the WOW signal was detected by SETI researchers.
“Where 3I Atlas seems to be coming from was within about nine degrees of that area,” Boyle said.
It is not just the trajectory. It is the behavior.
A comet that does not act like a comet
Atlas was first believed to be a comet. Then it began showing features that didn’t fit that category. Boyle explained that the object initially displayed an anti-tail, a tail pointing toward the sun. That can happen on rare comets under certain conditions, but Atlas did something stranger. For its first couple of months, it had only an anti-tail and no normal tail at all.
“That’s another question mark on what this thing really is,” Boyle said.
More anomalies appeared as it moved closer to the sun. Boyle said the object’s color has changed several times. Astronomers detected seven jets emerging from it, something that could represent natural outgassing but also, as Boyle noted, resembles thrusters on spacecraft.
“It has seven jets coming out of it. Could these jets be thrusters like we have in our spacecraft?” he said. “Again, these are the professional large telescopes that can image this. So many odd things.”
Perhaps the most puzzling feature is a non-gravitational acceleration. Instead of slowing down after passing the sun, the object is speeding up. Natural comets sometimes show small deviations because of gas jets, but Boyle says the scale of the behavior is raising eyebrows.
Passing through the solar system like a visitor
Its closest approach to Earth is expected around December 19, passing at roughly 270 million kilometers. That is far from dangerous but close enough to raise more questions.
“It has already passed Venus, Mars, and Jupiter within tens of millions of kilometers,” Boyle said. “Why is it passing planets in the solar system just like we have passed our planets with earlier spacecraft?”
No major observatory has released a clear high-resolution image of the object yet.
This is where the debate grows sharper.
The missing images
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reportedly captured detailed pictures of the object on October 2 and 3. Because of the recent United States government shutdown, NASA has not released that data.
“The scientific community is waiting to see those clear pictures,” Boyle said. “Because of the shutdown, we are not getting access to this high-resolution imagery. So that might really answer questions about it.”
When asked whether the timing felt too convenient, Boyle said the thought has crossed many minds.
“Did they find something they are not releasing?” he said. “Let’s put it that way.”
He compared the lack of transparency to a patient having information withheld by a doctor. The metaphor points to the level of scientific importance he believes the object carries.
Loeb vs NASA and a scientific divide
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has been the most outspoken voice demanding that NASA release the images. Loeb has suggested the possibility that Atlas could be a probe or vehicle, not because the behavior has no simple explanation.
Boyle says Loeb is not alone in this view.
“Even Avi Loeb from Harvard is saying it could be an interstellar vehicle or a probe,” he said.
Another scientist, British physicist Brian Cox, publicly dismissed the alien-technology speculation, arguing that the theories overshadow reliable data. Loeb fired back, pointing out that Cox had not published research on the object.
“There was that squabble coming back and forth,” Boyle said. “We always have to keep our minds open.”
Boyle believes the debate reflects something deeper than disagreement between two public scientists. It reveals how little humans understand about visitors from outside our solar system.
Could it be alien technology? Boyle’s answer surprised even him.
When asked directly about the possibility of alien origin, Boyle did not shut it down.
“Alien technology could be underlying,” he said carefully. He stressed that alien life might not resemble what humans expect. He compared behavioral anomalies to unexplored physics, suggesting that humans may not yet have the tools or dimensional understanding to recognize advanced technology if it appeared in front of them.
He referenced Carl Sagan’s illustration of Flatland and explored the possibility that extraterrestrial intelligence could operate in dimensions humans cannot perceive.
“Maybe aliens work on a different frequency that we cannot move into yet,” he said.
Is the public ready for the truth? Boyle hesitates.
The longest pause in the interview came when Boyle was asked whether humanity is ready for disclosure.
“Oh boy,” he said. Then he explained why governments may be cautious.
“Some people will open with open arms. Others will talk about their shotgun being ready,” he said. “There could be anarchy in the streets. That is why they really cannot release any information if these are aliens.”
Why this matters in Saskatchewan
While the object is far too faint for the average backyard telescope, Saskatchewan residents have already been asking questions as the news spreads. The province’s dark skies make it one of the best places in Canada for amateur astronomy. Interest has risen sharply after recent Northern Lights displays lit up the province with intense red and green waves.
Boyle said events like these show how curious the public becomes when something unusual happens in the sky. Atlas, he says, may amplify that curiosity.
If we can get more people interested in sciences such as this, who knows what that could lead to?” he said.
What comes next?
All eyes now turn to NASA. With the government shutdown resolved, scientists are waiting for the unreleased images. Those pictures may answer the questions surrounding the object’s erratic behavior. Or they may raise new ones.
“Stay tuned,” Boyle said. “This might be real.”
The interstellar visitor will pass through and continue its journey back into deep space. But what it leaves behind, in scientific data, unanswered questions, and public imagination, may last far longer.
As Boyle put it:
“Of 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, there must be life somewhere. It’s really hard to argue we are the only ones.”
