Is 3I/ATLAS an Interstellar Messenger? New Findings Debunk Alien Rumors but Reveal an Ancient, Carbon‑Rich Comet
A Rare Interstellar Visitor When astronomers with the Asteroid Terrestrial‑impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) noticed an object with an extraordinarily high orbital eccentricity racing through the outer solar system in June 2025, they immediately suspected an interstellar origin. Follow‑up observations confirmed that the body, now designated 3I/ATLAS, follows a hyperbolic path and moves faster than any known comet, approximately 210 000 km per houresa.int. Unlike periodic comets, this object will never return once it leaves the Sun’s gravitational grasp, making it only the third confirmed interstellar visitor after ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019science.nasa.gov. The comet’s trajectory takes it between the orbits