Elon Musk has warned that a giant interstellar object racing through the Solar System “could be alien” and might “kill most of human life” if it veers off course.
The body, named 3I/ATLAS, was first detected on 1 July 2025 by the Asteroid Terrestrial‑impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile.
It is expected to make its closest Earth flyby on 19 December 2025, sparking global concern among scientists and UFO enthusiasts.
Musk told the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in November 2025 that although the object may be a comet or asteroid, its unpredictable behaviour makes it dangerous.
“It could obliterate an entire continent. Maybe worse, it could wipe out most of humanity, if not all of us,” he cautioned.
He urged space agencies to continue monitoring in case the trajectory shifts.
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have reassured the public that the comet’s orbit is well‑tracked and poses no collision risk, but they are coordinating global observation campaigns to study it.
Astronomers confirmed that the Manhattan‑sized object is travelling at 130,000 mph, marking only the third confirmed visitor from beyond our Solar System after 1I/‘Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
Scientists believe 3I/ATLAS may have been drifting through space for up to 10 billion years.
When it reached its closest point to the Sun on 30 October 2025, telescopes recorded unusual non‑gravitational accelerations.
The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa also detected a signal linked to the object, stunning observers and fueling speculation.
Harvard physicist Avi Loeb said the anomalies mean he cannot dismiss the possibility of extraterrestrial origin.
He suggested there is a 30–40% chance the comet is not naturally formed, rating it “at least a two” on his UFO scale, where zero represents natural phenomena and 10 is confirmed extraterrestrial origin.
“It might be an alien spaceship,” Loeb noted, stressing that the object “merits attention” and must be studied closely.
Speculation has also spread outside scientific circles.
British filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee suggested humanity could be on the verge of first contact:
“These are weird times and we have always looked to the stars for guidance… The UFOlogist in me sees 3I/ATLAS’s Earth flyby just before Christmas as no coincidence. We could detect signals or course changes by 19 to 25 December.”
Meanwhile, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland has scheduled a press event for 19 November 2025 to release new imagery and data, while ESA missions including Mars Express and Juice are contributing observations.
For now, astronomers emphasize that 3I/ATLAS is a rare interstellar comet, not a threat — but its unusual behaviour and timing have ensured it remains one of the most closely watched cosmic visitors in history.
