The Glomar Response: Why is the CIA Hiding Records on a "Rock"?

Daniel Wood
2026-01-06T15:08:42-05:00

NASA says 3I/Atlas is a comet. The CIA says... nothing. We explore why the intelligence agency issued a "Glomar response" to records on the interstellar visitor, and why Avi Loeb thinks they might be hiding a "Black Swan."
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Opinion | What Then Studio

Overview

If 3I/Atlas is just a comet, why is the CIA treating it like a state secret? In a baffling move, the Central Intelligence Agency recently issued a "Glomar response" to a FOIA request about the interstellar object—refusing to confirm or deny if they have records on it. This contradicts NASA's public stance that the object is purely natural. We explore the massive disconnect between mainstream science and intelligence agencies, and what Avi Loeb says this secrecy really means.

Table of Contents

"Neither Confirm Nor Deny"

The Disconnect: NASA vs. CIA

The Anomalies They Won't Talk About

What Then? A Black Swan Event

Frequently Asked Questions

Usually, when you ask the CIA about a rock in space, they tell you to ask NASA. Space rocks are boring. They don't have political agendas, they don't topple governments, and they (usually) don't spy on us. But when researcher John Greenewald Jr. filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request regarding the interstellar object 3I/Atlas, the agency didn't say "we have nothing." They said something much more suspicious.

"Neither Confirm Nor Deny"

On December 31, 2025, the CIA responded with the infamous Glomar Response: "We can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records."

This legal phrase is typically reserved for sensitive national security matters—nuclear weapons locations, active spy operations, or foreign coups. Using it for a "comet" suggests that acknowledging the mere existence of a file on 3I/Atlas would reveal intelligence sources or methods. As Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb points out, if this were just a ball of ice, why would the CIA have classified data on it at all?

The Disconnect: NASA vs. CIA

The situation reveals a fascinating schism in the US government. On one hand, you have NASA holding press conferences stating decisively that 3I/Atlas is a natural comet. They show us the spectra, they talk about carbon dioxide, and they tell us to move along.

On the other hand, the intelligence community is locking the doors. If NASA is right and it's just a rock, the CIA's response is paranoid bureaucracy. But if the CIA is right to be secretive, then NASA's public confidence starts to look like a cover story designed to prevent panic.

The Anomalies They Won't Talk About

What records could the CIA possibly be hiding? It likely relates to the "anomalies" that Loeb and others have flagged since 3I/Atlas entered the solar system:

The Anti-Tail: A massive jet of material pointing toward the Sun, which defies standard solar wind physics.

Precise Alignment: The object's rotation axis is aligned with the Sun to within a fraction of a percent—a coincidence Loeb calculates at 1 in 500 odds.

Non-Gravitational Acceleration: Like its predecessor 'Oumuamua, it is moving in ways gravity alone cannot explain.

If the CIA has high-resolution satellite imagery or sensor data that shows structure rather than just a fuzzy coma, that would explain the classification. You don't classify ice; you classify technology.

What Then? A Black Swan Event

At What Then Studio, we call this a "Black Swan" indicator. The government is not a monolith. NASA is built to share; the CIA is built to hide. When they disagree on the nature of reality, pay attention to the guys with the clearance.

The Glomar response implies that 3I/Atlas is not just an astronomical curiosity; it is a matter of national security. And rocks, generally speaking, don't need security clearance.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a "Glomar Response"?

It is a legal response used by US government agencies (like the CIA) to refuse to answer a FOIA request. It neither confirms nor denies the existence of the requested records, preventing the requester from knowing if the subject is even being investigated.

2. Who filed the request?

The request was filed by John Greenewald Jr., the founder of The Black Vault, a massive online repository of declassified government documents.

3. Does this prove 3I/Atlas is aliens?

No. It only proves that the CIA has an interest in the object (or records related to it) that they consider sensitive. This could be due to the sensors used to detect it rather than the object itself, but the ambiguity keeps the "alien technology" theory alive.

References

This article discusses the Daily Mail report on CIA records and the Medium publication by Avi Loeb: "If 3I/ATLAS is a Comet, Why Would the CIA 'Neither Deny, Nor Confirm' the Existence of Records on It?"