3I/ATLAS baffles scientists with mass beyond 33 billion tons, too large for comet

A mysterious interstellar object, 3I/ATLAS has once again shocked astronomers with its new anomaly in its mass, which was found to be bigger than 33 billion tons.

In a recent research study, Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb examined 3I/ATLAS in collaboration with Richard Cloete and Peter Veres states.

As per the team’ s findings, the mass of the interstellar object has been found to be far more massive than expected by scientists, excluding the possibility of the object being a comet.

According to Loeb, these findings on mass reinforce the possibility of 3I/ATLAS being an alien probe and artifact from an advanced extra-terrestrial civilization.

The researchers have come to the indefinite conclusion after studying its trajectory between May 15 and September 23, 2025.

From this data, Loeb suggested that the “mass of 3I/ATLAS must be bigger than 33 billion tons. Its non-gravitational acceleration” was “smaller than 49 feet per day, squared.”

Based on Hubble Space Telescope observation, Loeb said, “The diameter of its solid-density nucleus must be larger than [3.1 miles],” demonstrating the upper limit of current estimates.

According to researchers, such colossal mass is an abnormality shown by a naturally occurring object. This mass is multiple times more massive than the other two interstellar objects, 1I/`Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.

“Is 3I/ATLAS an unusually massive comet with an unusual chemical composition on an unusually rare trajectory or alien technology?” he commented.

“In both cases, the object could shed CO2 and H2O ices from material that collected on its frozen surface as it ploughed through interplanetary and interstellar space.” he added

It is difficult to determine the true nature of 3I/ATLAS based on its chemical nature.

3I/ATLAS was discovered by astronomers on July 1, 2025. Since its first appearance, the interstellar object has become a subject of debate in the scientific community.

3I/ATLAS is the third object found hurling towards our solar system. The other two included 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2017 and 2019 respectively.