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The interstellar object 31/ATLAS has ignited a global frenzy over whether aliens could be connected to its unusual behavior, as scientists release new findings ahead of its closest approach to Earth on December 19. 

The object—confirmed to come from another solar system—has drawn sharp debates between NASA, astronomers, and theorists like Harvard’s Avi Loeb, who suggests it could even be “an alien vessel.”

 As curiosity peaks, researchers are uncovering new anomalies that make 31/ATLAS unlike any comet previously observed.

3I/ATLAS Will Pass Closest to Earth in December: What to Know About the Interstellar Visitor - USA Herald

Avi Loeb vs. NASA: The Aliens Debate Intensifies

NASA continues to insist the object is a comet with atypical features and has built a dedicated page to answer public concerns.

 NASA’s official information page on the interstellar comet can be viewed here.

Yet Harvard Professor Avi Loeb told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas that the outer layer of the object shows signs of a surface unlike typical comets.

“What they uncovered was the ‘skin’ of the object … some ices and perhaps some dust that evaporates when the sun illuminates that surface,” Loeb explained to NewsNation. “Even if you consider spacecraft that travels through the core of the interstellar medium, it would accumulate over time — ices and dust on it.”

Loeb maintains that December 19 will reveal crucial information about the object’s origin.
In a separate NewsNation interview, he added:

“Let’s wait and see. Bureaucrats or unimaginative scientists want us to believe in the expected, but the rest of us know the best is yet to come.”

Loeb says he has identified 12 anomalies that could point to unconventional origins—fueling speculation about aliens.

Michio Kaku Says Age Explains 31/ATLAS’s Mystery

Another physicist, Michio Kaku, offers a calmer take, saying the comet’s extraordinary age—over 7 billion years—is the source of its odd properties.

“Over 7 billion years, it’s had plenty of time to accumulate different gases, different elements, different kinds of environments that it goes into,” Kaku told NewsNation. “I think that explains a lot of the mystery behind the comet.”

New Study: Cryovolcanism & Ice Volcanoes on 31/ATLAS

A study published on ArXiv, which is not peer-reviewed, claims that 31/ATLAS may be covered in erupting ice volcanoes, a phenomenon known as cryovolcanism.
Read the Arxiv study here.

According to Live Science, the comet exhibits traits similar to trans-Neptunian objects, including dwarf planets.

Study author Josep Trigo-Rodríguez told Live Science:

“We were all surprised. Being a comet formed in a remote planetary system, it is remarkable that the mixture of materials forming the surface of the body has a resemblance with trans-Neptunian objects.”

The researchers also captured the highest-resolution images yet showing jets of gas and dust blasting from the comet—evidence supporting cryovolcanic activity.

NASA’s Latest Findings: A Safe but Extraordinary Visitor

NASA states that Hubble imagery from July revealed a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust surrounding its icy core.

More details from NASA's observations:

• Estimated diameter: 1,444 feet to 3.5 miles
• Currently poses no threat to Earth
• Will stay at least 1.6 AU (150 million miles) away
• First detected by the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile
• Closest approach to the Sun: October 30
• Visible again to telescopes by early December
• Closest to the Earth December 19

Men’s Journal also covered the new findings in its feature, available here.

Is 31/ATLAS Proof of Aliens—or Just a Scientific Marvel?

While NASA remains firm that 31/ATLAS is simply a comet, speculation about aliens shows no sign of slowing down.
With the December 19 event approaching, astronomers worldwide are preparing for renewed observations.
Whether natural or artificial, one thing is clear: 31/ATLAS is unlike any interstellar visitor seen before.