3I-ATLAS – An Interstellar Comet or an alien spaceship?

 

                                       3I-ATLAS – An Interstellar Comet or an alien spaceship?

These days my mobile and social media accounts are flooded with videos and news items relating to alien invasion on Earth, sighting of UFOs and of course 3I-Atlas. While doomsday prophecies and alien invasions are being discussed, official agencies such as NASA are dismissing any such claims, reiterating that the Interstellar object in discussion is a comet that is merely passing by our solar system through millions of years of time travel.

On 1^st July, 2025, a comet from Interstellar, which is referred to as the space between the stars, was discovered by Astronomers. This interstellar object was named 3I-ATLAS.  Based on its characteristics, it has been categorized as a 'comet' based on the typical hyperbolic shape of its orbital path.  It is estimated that this comet will be reaching the closest point to the Sun on 30^th October, 2025, at a distance of about 1.4AU (130 million miles or 210 million kilometers), just inside the orbit of Mars.

Travelling at a speed of roughly 90,000–110,000 km/h, the comet is now officially recognized as the third known interstellar visitor after ‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov and is projected to make its closes pass to Earth on 19  December, 2025. While social media is abuzz with bizarre stories about the interstellar object, it has now been acknowledged that the comet, calculated to have arrived from the direction of constellation Sagittarius, is formed in another star system and was ejected into the interstellar space until it recently entered into our solar system.

While scientists and astronomers are closely observing the alien object, research so far has shown that the comet has extreme Negative Polarization (meaning a deep and narrow negative polarization branch reaching about −2.7% at a ~7° phase angle), with an inversion angle (~where polarization changes sign) around 17°, which is interpreted to be unusual among comets and asteroids. Gases such as CO2, Methane have been discovered via JWST Infrared Spectroscopy, which is suggestive of a volatile rich composition of its nucleus with the possibility of ices that are less processed. Ultraviolet imaging (with Swift telescope) has detected emission characteristic of OH (a by-product of water splitting), which is a sign of water presence.  Hubble observations has also estimated the size of its nucleus to be up to ~5.6 km in diameter.

While official agencies such as NASA have declared 3I-ATLAS as a comet that shall pose no threat to Earth, there have been several speculations about the Interstellar object to be of Alien origin and that it is a weaponized spacecraft that could possibly turn hostile towards humans on Earth.  Multiple observatories and instruments such as Hubble, JWST, Swift, ground telescopes discovering consistent features like coma development, gas/dust output, tail growth and Spectroscopy showing composition through polarimetry giving extensive details about dust properties, water detection supports the theory that the interstellar object is of natural behavior typical for a Comet.

However, uncertainties in relation the exact internal structure / nucleus shape, rotation period of the object and some of the “odd” features (e.g. unusually high CO₂/H₂O ratio, strong activity far from Sun, polarization peculiarities) which are not fully explained by existing comet models point to either unusual formation environments or preservation (less processed by radiation, etc.) in respect of 3I-ATLAS which makes a clear interpretation of the object as comet, a matter of debate.

While the best scientific evidence as of now strongly supports the theory that 3I/ATLAS is indeed a comet with natural origins and behavior but it surely is an unusual case compared to comets previously identified having marked their presence in our Solar System. Moreover, with claims that it is “emitting its own light,” or shows mission-maneuver-like behavior, which as of now largely remains speculative are reasons that the subject matter has become a hot case for debate in scientific community. 

Social Media through stories and reels emanating from various geographic locations is deeply speculating a hidden threat to mankind based on predictions such as one from Baba Vanga about humanity making contact with aliens in 2025. Some researchers are claiming that humanity is poised to make contact with aliens and that the interstellar object could well be part of some extra-terrestrial reconnaissance. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has speculated (in more “thought-experiment” fashion) that some of the observed features of the comet might be consistent with artificial origin like its brightness, possibly not just from sunlight reflection, trajectory “fine-tuning etc.  Even astrologers and innumerable social media geeks have come out with pages amplifying theories that seem more seeped in fiction than any credible scientific study.

It is said human mind is a fertile ground for creation and imagination. Thus as 3I-ATLAS travels across our solar system, sci-fi writers are penning stories of the Interstellar object akin to an alien spacecraft likely to make a landing over Mars.  People are also imagining the aliens hidden in the spaceship are stealthily trying to alter human minds through alien technologies or even planning to attack Earth! Researchers and official agencies are however reiterating that the object under study is indeed a Comet and it poses no threat to humankind on Earth.  It is hoped that scientists with the help of new age tech and in-depth research, will possibly be able to make new discoveries about this fascinating interstellar visitor and offer deeper understanding of about such alien trespasses into our solar system.

 Image Source: Internet

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