# Harvard scientist pushes back on NASA chief over mystery space object: ‘It’s not an asteroid’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/harvard-scientist-pushes-back-on-nasa-chief-over-mystery-space-object-its-not-an-asteroid/
- Published: 2026-11-15T11:00:34+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-15T11:23:57+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/us/harvard-scientist-pushes-back-nasa-chief-mystery-space-object-not-asteroid
- Topics: Paranormal, Space, Technology, Weird & Viral, World

## Key points

- Loeb says KY26’s acceleration challenges its classification as an asteroid.
- His team suggests it could be the lost Soviet spacecraft Phobos 1.
- The theory remains unproven, with observations in 2031 potentially offering clues.

## Summary

Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb disputes NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman’s view that 1998 KY26 is an asteroid. Loeb says the object’s unexplained acceleration and lack of a visible cometary tail make its behaviour difficult to explain, and argues scientists should consider possibilities beyond familiar categories.

Loeb and colleagues have proposed that KY26 could be the lost Soviet spacecraft Phobos 1, which stopped communicating on its way to Mars in 1988. They say its trajectory resembles the spacecraft’s and sunlight reflecting from it could account for the acceleration; the object is also described as highly reflective and rotating about once every five minutes. The theory is unproven, and the article says a possible answer may come from Japan’s Haya… mission in 2031.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.