New comet theorised to be alien probe

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Published at:

8/1/2025

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Astronomers are tracking a newly spotted interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS, which is the third such object observed in our solar system. First spotted on July 1 by the ATLAS telescope in Chile, it is traveling at about 37 miles per second from the direction of the Milky Way's center and poses no threat to Earth, passing no closer than 150 million miles. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has suggested it could be an alien probe, citing its unusual trajectory, but planetary astronomer Karen Meech dismisses the idea as a natural comet. 3I/ATLAS will reach its closest approach to the Sun around October 30, at about 130 million miles. The only other interstellar visitors have been 1I/'Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019).