Expert suggests mystery comet 3I/ATLAS could be an extraterrestrial spacecraft

The enigmatic interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has captivated astronomers worldwide, and fresh observations have led some experts to speculate it may actually be an extraterrestrial spacecraft.

Researchers noted a series of puzzling irregularities, including its survival of a close encounter with the Sun, enormous unexplained jets, and a peculiar “anti-tail,” News.Az reports, citing The Mirror.

Unlike typical comets, 3I/ATLAS remained intact and luminous after passing near the Sun, defying expectations.

Astronomers also detected an unusual radio signal emanating from the object, sparking speculation that it could be an alien vessel. Harvard professor Avi Loeb has suggested that the comet’s strange behaviors—such as its anti-tail and twin jets—could be the result of “technological thrusters,” implying it might be a mothership from another planet.

Fresh images from the Nordic Optical Telescope, a 2.56-meter research telescope situated at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, Spain's Canary Islands showed that 3I/ATLAS continues to display a confounding "anti-tail".

The "anti-tail" was spotted as a streak of debris strangely pointing toward the Sun, even as the object races away from it.

Typically, a comet's tail streams behind, pushed by solar winds, but this weird reversal has left experts puzzled, with some proposing it's just an optical illusion, the Daily Mail reported.

Additionally, the newest images also reveal two massive jets shooting from 3I/ATLAS, one aimed directly at the Sun and the other, nearly three times longer, firing in the opposite direction.

Considering the object's small size, roughly 3.5 miles wide, Professor Loeb has argued there's simply not enough ice to account for such intense eruptions, rejecting the notion that they're merely water vapor.

Instead he has supported a disputed theory that these could be "technological thrusters", suggesting a potential alien spacecraft, a assertion that's triggered heated debate among scientists worldwide.

The professor posted on his Medium blog: "This post-perihelion manoeuvre might be employed by a spacecraft that aims to gain speed rather than slow down through the gravitational assist from the sun."

Loeb had previously issued warnings the massive space rock could be an "extraterrestrial artefact" preparing to make first contact. But most scientists believe it's a comet that has been journeying for billions of years.

It's also thought that the recently detected radio waves are evidence of its natural origins, resulting from specific wavelength absorption related to the presence of hydroxyl radicals, or OH molecules, in the comet's coma, according to Livescience.

The publication explains: "These radicals are formed by the breakdown of water molecules as they are ejected from the comet via a natural process known as outgassing, which is a clear sign of cometary activity, according to a 2016 study."