Various media outlets (1, 2, 3, 4) report that an object of extraterrestrial origin codenamed 3I/ATLAS is heading to Earth, and is expected to approach our planet in November 2025. This news has already sparked active discussions on social networks.
In fact, this is not an alien spacecraft, but an exocomet that entered the solar system. Moreover, this is far from the first exocomet that astronomers have recorded. Alpha Centauri writes about this in more detail.
In early July, NASA officially confirmed the discovery of the third interstellar object in history to pass through our Solar System — Comet 3I/ATLAS. The designation indicates that this is the third interstellar guest after 'Oumuamua (1I) in 2017 and Comet Borisov (2I) in 2019.
NASA calculations have shown that the comet has a hyperbolic orbit with an eccentricity of over 1.4, confirming its origin from outside the Solar System. 3I/ATLAS will approach closest to the Sun on October 30, 2025.
According to researchers, the object exhibits the classic behavior of a comet with an active coma, which is formed under the influence of solar radiation. However, doubts have arisen in the scientific community about the natural origin of 3I/ATLAS.
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has published a study of the 3I/ATLAS object, in which he and other scientists consider the hypothetical possibility that the object may be an artificial artifact of extraterrestrial civilizations. The authors do not make any loud statements, but by studying the object's anomalies. Among other explanations, they also allow for its technological origin. It is to this work that the media mentioned at the beginning refer.
Loeb only called for deeper observations. According to his estimates, 3I/ATLAS will remain accessible to ground-based astronomy until the end of 2025. However, none of the official astronomical institutions, including NASA, supported the hypothesis of the artificial origin of the object.