NASA has definitively identified the mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS as a comet, releasing new images from its Mars spacecraft to debunk speculation from some, including a Harvard researcher, that it could be an alien spacecraft.
NASA has ended the speculation surrounding the mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS by releasing high-resolution images from three of its Mars spacecraft, confirming it is a comet and not an alien spacecraft. The photos, captured as the object passed 18 million miles from Mars, show a fuzzy “pixelated white ball,” which is the comet’s coma—a cloud of dust and ice shed as it travels.
While the finding settles the debate for most scientists, Harvard Professor Avi Loeb, a prominent proponent of the alien technology theory, remains unconvinced, stating that while it “could be natural,” humanity must consider the technological possibility due to its profound implications.
‘We want very much to find signs of life in the universe… but 3I/ATLAS is a comet,’ – Amit Kshatriya, a senior NASA official
‘Captured at a scale of roughly 19 miles (30 kilometers) per pixel, 3I/ATLAS looks like a pixelated white ball on the HiRISE imagery. That ball is a cloud of dust and ice called the coma, which the comet shed as it continued its trajectory past Mars.’ – NASA explanation
‘It’s very dangerous and to a certain degree misleading to put speculations ahead of scientific process. The facts, all of them without exception, point to a normal object that is coming from the interstellar space to us.’ – Thomas Puzia, astrophysicist
‘Obviously, it could be natural. But I said: we have to consider the possibility that it’s technological because if it is then the implications for humanity will be huge.’ – Harvard Professor Avi Loeb