3I/ATLAS Update 2025-09-01

3I/ATLAS is indeed a real astronomical discovery—the third confirmed interstellar object to pass through our solar system, following 'Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019).

Discovered on July 1, 2025, by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey in Chile, it's being classified as a comet originating from outside our solar system.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observed it on August 6, 2025, using its Near-Infrared Spectrograph, revealing unexpected chemical compositions like high levels of carbon dioxide and nickel, which are atypical for comets formed in our solar system.

These findings suggest it could provide insights into planetary formation in distant star systems, but nothing about it "shouldn’t exist" or outright defies the laws of nature—it's just unusual compared to local objects.

Regarding the more sensational claims:

**Light pulses**
Observations show a "sunward-pointing coma" (a glowing envelope of gas and dust) that's unusually oriented and small (about 24 km wide around an 11-km core), with some reports describing it as "glowing from the front" without a typical tail. However, there's no evidence of artificial pulsing; this is likely due to sublimation or other natural processes, though it lacks common volatiles like CO or CN at expected levels.

**Trajectory shifts**
It's moving at high speed (around 37 miles per second, or ~200,000 km/hr), on a hyperbolic path that will take it past Mars, Venus, the Sun (perihelion on October 29, 2025), and Jupiter before exiting the system. Some speculate it could use planetary gravity assists (e.g., near Mars) for course adjustments, but this is standard orbital mechanics for natural objects—no unnatural shifts have been reported.

**Materials defying nature**
The chemistry is surprising (e.g., abundant CO2 and nickel), but explainable as remnants from a different stellar environment. No "impossible" materials; it's an icy nucleus with a coma, not something exotic like a fusion-powered craft.

**Sending a message and getting a response**
This appears to be entirely fictional or exaggerated. No credible sources mention any attempts to communicate with it, let alone a reply. NASA and other agencies have only conducted passive observations via telescopes like JWST and SPHEREx.

As for whether it's a relic of an ancient civilization, a probe, a scout, or the start of extraterrestrial contact: Most astronomers consider it a natural comet, albeit an intriguing one for study. However, Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has hypothesized it could be artificial—perhaps an extraterrestrial spacecraft or probe—based on its atypical behavior, similar to his theories about 'Oumuamua. He even suggested it might be "hostile" in a non-peer-reviewed paper, but this is speculative and dismissed by many experts as lacking evidence, turning science into sci-fi.

Other fringe theories on social media link it to numerology, ancient codices, or fusion propulsion, but these aren't supported by data.

In summary, 3I/ATLAS is a fascinating natural visitor pushing the boundaries of what we know about interstellar comets, but the dramatic elements in your description seem amplified for storytelling or hype.

If new data emerges post-perihelion (e.g., from closer observations), it could refine our understanding—though contact on "someone else’s terms" remains firmly in the realm of speculation.

For now, it's more likely a cosmic drifter than a herald of aliens.