Astronomers and alien conspiracy theorists alike are actively looking up and into the mystery surrounding the comet 3I/ATLAS, a celestial object passing through our solar system. Because of the orientation and behavior of its movement, many have believed it to be alien technology rather than a comet. The name originated from the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), who discovered it as the third interstellar object (3I) after it was discovered on July 1, 2025.
NASA has multiple teams and satellites dedicated to observing 3I/Atlas, shooting down the spaceship theory and confirming it as a rock formation. Initial questions surrounding how to identify the object centered around the comet’s tail, which was abnormally bright and visible despite it being about 170 million miles away from Earth at its closest point. While this originally generated questions about what the object was at all, it has now become a clue about 3I/ATLAS’s origin because of the traces of extra carbon dioxide within the tail.
Although 3I/ATLAS is not the alien mothership that many feared or hoped for, it is a symbol for the unknown that surrounds our planet, with interstellar objects passing through and infinite possibilities of discoveries beyond the orbiting objects we know of today. However, its peculiarities have stirred stargazer’s minds about what else is out there.
“I am a firm believer in such things as aliens,” senior Madison Austin said. “Just not exactly the image we’ve created about them.”
In reference to 3I/ATLAS, Austin believes that its movement is too intentional and abnormal not to be suspected as extraterrestrial life.
“It is impossible for [a comet] to move that way, avoiding the orbit around the sun and going straight at it, changing course.”
Information about 3I/ATLAS is being used to advance modern science in a way that is accepting of the possibilities that the universe holds and how the chemical composition of flying space objects can be extremely telling of their history and impact on our solar system.
Footage of 3I/ATLAS and its journeying path through our solar system and beyond can be seen on the NASA official website https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/3i-atlas/comet-3i-atlas-multimedia/, where the initial discovery was documented from a NASA-funded program based in Chile that identified it as an interstellar object. The information is accessible to all and can ease the fearful stigma behind Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).
“Personally, there is no question in my mind that [extraterrestrials] exist. It is honestly horrifying, but also so cool to think that there has to be [an] intelligent life form out [in space] that has or is trying to contact us,“ senior Noah Rowe said.
