If the first rule of the “Rock Narrative” is that the universe is dead, the second rule is that anomalies are just errors. But the latest images of 3I/ATLAS show an X-pattern that defies the solar wind. Avi Loeb calls it a puzzle. I call it a compass.
The Context: The Tesla and The Void
In my previous analysis, *The Tesla in the Void*, I explored Harvard physicist Avi Loeb’s provocative stance: that if we train our scientists only on rocks, they will look at a technological artifact and call it a “weird rock.” Loeb famously noted that Elon Musk’s Roadster is likely not the most advanced vehicle in the galaxy.
I argued that 3I/ATLAS — with its 12 statistical anomalies — is not just a scientific puzzle; it is a psychological mirror. I proposed that if this object is the “Cavalry,” they aren’t landing because humanity currently suffers from an “Export Problem.” We are energetically “dirty,” broadcasting a signal of fear and predation. The premise is simple: Advanced intelligence won’t interact with us until we clean our own signal.
I. The Vertical Revolt
Fifteen hours ago, the narrative shifted from a “fuzzy ball” to a precise geometry. New imaging of 3I/ATLAS reveals something that shouldn’t be there: Vertical Jets.
To understand why this matters, you don’t need a PhD in astrophysics; you just need to understand wind. When a natural object (a comet) melts, the solar wind pushes the gas away from the Sun. It flows downstream. It surrenders to the current.
But Atlas is doing something else. It is shooting jets perpendicular to the current. It is creating an X-shape (or a cross) against the flow of the solar wind.
In the TULWA Philosophy, we talk about the difference between “drifting” (unconscious existence) and “steering” (sovereign existence). Dead things drift downstream. Living things — or engineered things — have the capacity to move laterally. They have the capacity to say “No” to the current.
The establishment is already scrambling for the safety switch. They are calling it a “satellite streak.” They are suggesting that, coincidentally, an Earth satellite crossed the exact path of the object at the exact moment of exposure. Twice.
Maybe it is a glitch. But when a glitch creates a perfect cross in the sky, and that cross aligns with a sudden awakening in the human collective, we need to stop looking at the pixels and start looking at the pattern.
II. The Deployment of Probes (Theirs and Ours)
Avi Loeb hypothesizes that these vertical lines might be “mini-probes” released from a mothership. If Atlas is the carrier, it is dropping sensors to map the territory.
But here is the irony: We are doing the same thing.
The real “probes” aren’t just metallic objects dropping from the sky. They are the shifts occurring inside human minds. The “Cavalry” I wrote about previously isn’t just landing on the White House lawn; it is landing in the career choices of high school seniors in Missouri.
Avi shared a letter from Andrea, a casino marketing manager. Her daughter, Payton, watched Avi’s courageous stand against the scientific dogmas. Payton didn’t decide to become an astronomer. She decided to become an Anthropologist.
Pause and feel the weight of that.
Because of an alien object, a young woman decided to study humanity.
This is the “Export Problem” solving itself. We are realizing that if we are going to meet the neighbors, we first need to understand the people living in our own house. Payton is a “probe” deployed by this phenomenon, sent into the depths of the human condition to figure out who we actually are before we try to leave.
III. The Stagnation of the “Safe” Mind
Another letter came from Andrew, an attorney in Florida. He pointed out a devastating statistic: the average age of Nobel Prize winners has drifted from 55 to 67. Science is getting older, safer, and more terrified of being wrong.
Andrew identifies the “paternalistic gatekeeping” that has eroded trust in science. This is the “Criminal Mind” of the institution—the desire to control the narrative rather than explore the territory.
The “Vertical Jets” of Atlas are a direct challenge to this stagnation.
- The Institution moves horizontally (safely, with the consensus).
- The Sovereign Explorer (Loeb, and those following him) moves vertically (at right angles to the dogma).
We need “Galileo-like leaders,” Andrew writes. He is right. We need people willing to look at the X-shape in the data and not scrub it out because it doesn’t fit the model of a “rock.”
IV. The Rockstar and the Reality Check
Then there is Sergio from Italy, who calls Avi the “Rockstar of Scientists.”
It’s a funny term, but it fits. A rockstar is someone who plays the music raw, who doesn’t lip-sync. Right now, NASA is lip-syncing. They are playing a pre-recorded track titled “It’s Just Ice.”
Avi is plugging in the amp and playing the noise.
The X-pattern in the sky is the visual representation of this friction. It is the friction between the old world, which wants the universe to be empty and safe, and the new world, which knows the universe is teeming and complex.
V. The Intersection
Whether those vertical lines are satellite streaks, ice fragments, or alien probes, the message is received.
We are at a crossroads. The X marks the spot.
We can continue to drift downstream with the solar wind, insisting that we are alone, that consciousness is a fluke, and that rocks are just rocks. Or, like the jets on Atlas, we can thrust vertically. We can move across the grain.
- Payton in Missouri is moving vertically by choosing a path of wonder over certainty.
- Andrew in Florida is moving vertically by calling out the stagnation of the experts.
- Avi Loeb is moving vertically by refusing to be bullied by his peers.
The “Tesla in the Void” was a joke about our arrogance. The “Cross in the Sky” is a map for our sovereignty.
The signal is getting clearer. The Cavalry isn’t just watching anymore. They are drawing lines in the sand.
VI. The Open Gate
I want to end this reflection with a direct acknowledgment of the man standing in the crossfire.
In an era where expertise is often used as a wall to keep the public out, Avi Loeb has chosen to build a gate. He understands something that many of his peers have forgotten: Science does not belong to the tenure track; it belongs to the curious.
It is not easy to stand in the wind. It is not easy to be the one pointing at the anomaly when everyone else is staring at their shoes. It requires a specific kind of backbone to publish the raw data, share the doubts, and invite the world into the messy, exhilarating process of discovery.
Avi, thank you for not redacting the universe. Thank you for treating the public not as children to be managed, but as fellow explorers to be briefed. By sharing your reflections with such radical clarity, you aren’t just teaching us about a potential object in the sky; you are teaching us how to hold our ground.
You are clearing the signal. And as the letters from Missouri, Florida, and Italy prove, the message is being received.
Keep playing the music. We are listening.