Avi Loeb appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where interest in the Interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS was revived. The Harvard astrophysicist suggested that the object might be more than a normal comet. Soon, the podcast was flooded with questions about when 3I/ATLAS would pass Earth. Further, the conversations evolved into what the scientists know about this rare, fast-moving traveler from beyond the solar system.
“When is 3I/ATLAS passing Earth?” trends amid Joe Rogan interview
Avi Loeb told Joe Rogan on the show that he thinks some of the features of 3I/ATLAS are quite unusual. Loeb believes that the trajectory of the object looks “targeted.”
He said, “The editor said, ‘Oh, the paper is fine, but you have a concluding sentence at the end where you say maybe it was targeting the inner source. And indeed, the trajectory is aligned with the plane of the planets around the Sun to within 5°. The chance for that at random is one in 500.” (via The Joe Rogan Experience)
Adding, he explained, “It’s moving in a retrograde trajectory opposite to the motion of the planets, which is ideal for it to release mini-probes that will get into the planets. It goes on the opposite side of the Sun relative to Earth when it’s closest, and that’s the time when a spacecraft could perform a maneuver to take advantage of the Sun’s gravitational assist. You know, all of these are interesting indications that may imply that some intelligence designed the trajectory.”
This sparked renewed interest in 3I/ATLAS, and fans are wondering when it might pass Earth. As of now, it has reached perihelion, the closest point to the Sun. The comet’s nearest approach to Earth will come later, on December 19, 2025. NASA has confirmed that the object poses no impact risk.
For the unversed, Avi Loeb, PhD, is a theoretical physicist and the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. He’s written a bunch of books, and his latest one is called “Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars.”
