A Manhattan-sized interstellar object currently streaking through the inner solar system has shown unusual acceleration and an unexpected blue hue � both potential indicators of artificial propulsion, according to Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb.

The object, known as 3I/ATLAS, was recorded by NASA spacecraft this week exhibiting non-gravitational acceleration � movement that cannot be fully explained by the pull of the Sun or planets. Typically, such motion would suggest that the object is venting gas and dust, like a comet. But Loeb says the data raise a different, more provocative possibility.

�Alternatively, the non-gravitational acceleration might be the technological signature of an internal engine,� Loeb wrote in a Medium post on Friday. �This might also explain the report on 3I/ATLAS getting �bluer than the Sun.��

He added that the effect could also have natural explanations � such as solar heating or chemical outgassing � but said the color change and acceleration pattern �deserve open-minded investigation.�

NASA�s solar-orbiting observatories recorded a rapid brightening of 3I/ATLAS as it swung within 172 million miles of the Sun earlier this week. Because Earth was on the far side of the Sun at the time, ground-based telescopes were unable to observe the object directly.

However, spacecraft operated by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory captured measurements showing the object had become �distinctly bluer than the Sun,� according to a newly released paper. The finding is �very surprising,� Loeb noted, since earlier observations showed the object shifting from red to green � but never blue.

Loeb suggested that the color change could point to a hot energy source or reflective surface, potentially consistent with �an artificial engine or illumination.�

If 3I/ATLAS were a natural comet, scientists would expect it to lose nearly half its mass through outgassing in the coming months, producing a large plume of debris visible from Earth. Its failure to do so, Loeb said, could be a sign that �something else� is powering the object.

�If we do not observe a massive cloud of gas around 3I/ATLAS in December,� Loeb wrote, �it could indicate a propulsion system.�

The object�s unique trajectory � slicing through the solar system from interstellar space before exiting again � will bring it closest to Earth on December 19, at a distance of roughly 167 million miles. That will provide researchers their best opportunity to determine whether 3I/ATLAS is an ordinary comet or something far more extraordinary.

NASA officials, however, have been quick to downplay speculation that the object could be extraterrestrial.

�NASA�s observations show that this is the third interstellar comet to pass through our solar system,� said Acting Administrator Sean Duffy � who also serves as U.S. Transportation Secretary � in a post on X responding to a question from reality television star Kim Kardashian.

�No aliens. No threat to life here on Earth,� Duffy wrote.

Still, Loeb criticized NASA for withholding images of 3I/ATLAS taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter�s HiRISE camera during its early October flyby. Sources told The Post that those images will not be released until after the federal government reopens.

3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar object to enter our solar system, following 2017�s �Oumuamua � which Loeb famously argued could also have been artificial � and 2019�s 2I/Borisov, a confirmed comet.

As with its predecessors, 3I/ATLAS�s behavior has defied expectations, showing properties that some scientists say push the limits of known natural explanations.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)