Astrophysicist Avi Loeb’s recent comment on Mayim Bialik’s podcast that “if you want to take a vacation, take it before October 29” has sparked widespread speculation online after being linked to the approaching interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS — a massive object currently moving through the solar system on a one-time trajectory toward the Sun. The remark, delivered in what Loeb later clarified was a light-hearted context, was quickly seized upon by social media users and conspiracy accounts interpreting it as a warning about an impending celestial threat. Scientists have since emphasised that the comet poses no risk to Earth and that the astrophysicist’s statement has been misunderstood.
3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object ever detected, was discovered in July 2025 by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) and confirmed by observatories in Spain and Chile. It is currently approaching perihelion — the point in its orbit closest to the Sun — expected on 29 October. According to data released by the International Astronomical Union and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the comet will pass no closer to Earth than about 1.7 astronomical units, or roughly 160 million miles, making it scientifically fascinating but physically harmless. It is travelling on a hyperbolic orbit that will carry it out of the solar system forever once it rounds the Sun.
In his conversation with actor and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik on her “Bialik Breakdown” podcast, Loeb discussed how public fascination with interstellar objects often drifts toward apocalyptic or extraterrestrial speculation. He mentioned 3I/ATLAS as part of a broader discussion about cosmic unpredictability, adding jokingly that people might “take a vacation before October 29” if they wanted to be cautious. Listeners later shared the line in isolation, framing it as a cryptic warning about the comet’s approach. The comment spread rapidly across social media platforms, amplified by users connecting it to viral posts claiming 3I/ATLAS was an “alien spacecraft” or “massive incoming object.” Loeb did not repeat any such claims, and none of the official data supports them.
NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office has confirmed that 3I/ATLAS is being continuously tracked and poses “no credible threat” to Earth or any other planet. Observations show that the comet is behaving exactly as expected for a natural body warming near the Sun — venting jets of gas and dust that create the faint tail and coma visible in long-exposure telescope images. The European Space Agency and the International Asteroid Warning Network have issued similar reassurances, explaining that while the comet’s perihelion will occur on 29–30 October, its distance from Earth will remain vast, far outside the Moon’s orbit.