NASA has spoken out about a comet created by aliens that threatens humanity

The American space agency (NASA) has refuted the theory of a Harvard astronomer who suggested that an object flying from beyond the solar system could be a relic of a distant civilization.

NASA skywatchers have dismissed a Harvard astronomer's suggestion that a rare interstellar object flying through our solar system is a relic of a civilisation from another celestial environment and "could potentially pose a threat to humanity", The Guardian reports.

Avi Loeb, director of Harvard University's Galileo project, which searches for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, raised eyebrows by suggesting in a July scientific paper that comet 3I/Atlas, which is due to pass close to Mars next month, could have been artificially created, The Guardian recalls.

It is only the third known object to originate outside the solar system and is named after the Asteroid Impact Last Warning System (Atlas) Survey Telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, which discovered it on July 1.

Loeb says observations of the object so far have not revealed the gaseous tails of dust and plasma characteristic of inner solar system comets, and have shown it to be moving on an unorthodox trajectory, suggesting it is a "technological artifact" with "active intelligence."

"If future data indicate the absence of a cometary tail, we are faced with the tantalizing possibility that it did not inherit a random velocity in interstellar space, but was instead deliberately directed toward the inner solar system," Loeb wrote in a blog post.

Even more ominous, Loeb argues in his paper, is the possibility that the object will make a secret maneuver in deep space while hidden behind the Sun in late October, and then set course for a close approach to Earth with “malicious intent.”

“The consequences, if the hypothesis is correct, could potentially be dire for humanity and may require protective measures, although they may prove futile,” Avi Loeb wrote.

Loeb's postulate, which he believes at least merits analysis, has not impressed experts at NASA, The Guardian reports. The space agency has been closely studying the object with ground and space telescopes since it was first spotted and has categorically stated that it poses no threat to Earth.

“The object looks like a comet. It behaves like a comet. It looks very, very much like, in almost every way, comets that we know of,” said Tom Statler, NASA’s lead scientist for small solar system bodies. “It has some interesting properties that are slightly different from the properties of comets in our solar system, but it behaves like a comet. So all the evidence points to this object being a natural body. It’s a comet.”

Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope show it is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide and moving at 130,000 mph (209,000 km/h), the fastest speed ever recorded for a visitor to the solar system.

Statler notes that all comets, not just interstellar ones, exhibit some elements of the anomaly.

“Comets are a mixture of dust and ice, they get heated by the sun, that heating changes, and exactly how they respond to that is a little bit unpredictable,” he said. “So even in our solar system, comets can suddenly brighten up if there’s, say, a certain layer of ice that sublimates quickly and throws off a lot of dust. That’s something that our comet observers and experts are prepared for, and it gives us an opportunity to learn more.”

Statler said the object will not come closer to Earth than 170 million miles due to the alignment of the planets over the next few months. It will pass close to Mars, Jupiter and Venus.

“This is a special discovery because we now have the ability to discover these interstellar comets,” he says. “It’s not that they’re really new, but we’ve only recently had the ability to discover them, and so far we’ve only found three. It gives us a window we’ve never had before directly into the makeup of other solar systems.”

Avi Loeb, meanwhile, acknowledged on his blog that “the simplest hypothesis is that 3I/ATLAS is a comet,” and that he was putting forward alternative possibilities as an exercise in challenging preconceived ideas: “Let’s instead retain our childish curiosity and look for evidence rather than pretending like adults who already know the answers. The hypothesis itself is an interesting exercise, and fun to pursue, regardless of its probable validity.”