The Mothership Theory: A Five-Kilometer Carrier and a Trillion Objects.
Observations of 3I/ATLAS increasingly challenge the idea that it is a conventional comet. Surrounding the main nucleus is a vast formation of approximately one trillion macroscopic objects that maintain stable structure across the object’s journey through the solar system. These objects do not sublimate or disperse under solar heating, yet they reflect the majority of the observed light while contributing only a fraction of the total mass.
The nucleus itself is estimated to be roughly five kilometers in size, carrying a minimum mass of tens of billions of tons and traveling at approximately sixty kilometers per second. This speed exceeds that of any spacecraft built by humanity and allows Atlas to traverse distances in months that take our most advanced missions years. Its trajectory is not random; it enters the solar system aligned with the planetary plane, passes close to multiple inner planets, and executes a measurable non-gravitational acceleration at perihelion that precisely retargets it toward Jupiter’s Hill radius.
