
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has used the recent flyby of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS to highlight how small man is in the universe.
The object came closest to Earth on 19 December 2025, at a distance of 268.91 million kilometres. Although there were speculations regarding its origin, 3I/ATLAS showed no abnormal manoeuvres or evidence of artificial activity; it just proceeded on its orbit within the solar system.