NASA responds to concerns mysterious interstellar object in our solar system is an alien spaceship
Published on Sep 21, 2025 at 10:00 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Sep 18, 2025 at 5:36 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
NASA officials have responded to concerns that a mysterious interstellar object known as 3I/ATLAS could be an alien spacecraft, winging its way towards Earth.
The 3I/ATLAS was first spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) station in Río Hurtado, Chile, on July 1, 2025.
The interstellar object is around 4.5 Astronomical Units from the sun, which is the equivalent of about 420 million miles.
Thankfully, 3I/ATLAS won’t come close enough to Earth to pose a threat, but that hasn’t stopped folks from speculating about what the object might be and whether we should be getting set for an alien invasion.
DISCOVER SBX CARS – The global premium auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
NASA has responded to claims 3I/ATLAS could be a spacecraft
With all that’s going on in the world at the moment, the last thing any of us needs is an alien invasion.
But late last month, astrophysicst Avi Loeb said that was exactly what we should all be getting ready for.
He claimed that light emanating from the interstellar object wasn’t sunlight reflecting off it, as had been previously thought, but was actually light coming from inside the object itself.
In a blog post, he even suggested that if it were an alien spaceship, the consequences could be ‘dire for humanity, and would possibly require defensive measures to be undertaken, though these might prove futile’,
However, before you get too panicked, NASA has swiftly shut down all talk of a pending alien invasion.
“It looks like a comet,” NASA’s lead scientist for small bodies, Tom Statler, told The Guardian.
“It does comet things. It very, very strongly resembles, in just about every way, the comets that we know.
“It has some interesting properties that are a little bit different from our solar system comets, but it behaves like a comet. And so the evidence is overwhelmingly pointing to this object being a natural body. It’s a comet.”
Phew.
The interstellar object could provide interesting insights for NASA
Rather than get ready for a pending invasion, Statler says the 3I/ATLAS comet provides an interesting opportunity for scientists to gain some vital insights into comets.
He said it would give them a better opportunity to study the composition of other solar systems.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Claire covers a wide variety of topics, with a special focus on cars, technology, planes, cryptocurrency, and luxury.
