Kathrine Frich
As curiosity deepens around a shape-shifting interstellar object, a Florida congresswoman is urging NASA to share what it knows.
The request comes as scientists debate whether the unusual comet 3I/ATLAS could defy natural explanation.
New calls for transparency
According to the New York Post, Representative Anna Paulina Luna has written to acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy, pressing the agency to publish unreleased images and data of the Manhattan-sized comet.
In her letter, the 36-year-old Republican said the material was “of great importance to advancing our understanding of interstellar visitors and their interaction with our solar system.” She shared the document publicly on X.
Luna specifically requested that NASA release photographs taken by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter between October 2 and 3.
She also asked for supplementary findings from the Perseverance rover and any other Mars missions that may have recorded “unusual activity” near the planet as 3I/ATLAS passed roughly 30 million kilometers away.
Alien theories resurface
The Post reported that the comet recently displayed “non-gravitational acceleration” and appeared “bluer than the sun,” prompting speculation from Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb.
He suggested the behavior might be caused by an artificial propulsion system rather than a natural process.
Loeb accused NASA of refusing to release an image captured on October 2 that could show the comet’s tail pointing toward the sun, an unusual orientation that might challenge its classification as a typical comet.
Luna’s wider appeal
In her letter, Luna encouraged NASA to keep monitoring the object, which is only the third confirmed interstellar visitor detected in the solar system.
She called for the Juno spacecraft to conduct further observations near Jupiter, using both optical and radio instruments to study 3I/ATLAS’s composition and trajectory.
Loeb praised Luna’s stance in a post on Medium, writing that “we all owe a debt of deep gratitude for the visionary support displayed by Representative Luna to frontier science.”
Public fascination grows
The interstellar object has also captured the attention of celebrities. Last week, Kim Kardashian asked Duffy on X to “spill the tea” on the comet.
He responded that 3I/ATLAS poses “no threat to life here on Earth,” describing it as the third interstellar comet to pass through our solar system.
Loeb later criticized Duffy for replying to Kardashian instead of engaging with scientists, titling a follow-up essay, “Kim Kardashian is Welcome to Join my Research Team on 3I/ATLAS.”
This article is made and published by Kathrine Frich, who may have used AI in the preparation
