Boffins are baffled by the Manhattan-sized space rock that is hurtling through space and heading towards Earth and now it has bizarrely changed course after picking up speed
17:23, 05 Nov 2025
The interstellar visitor has unexpectedly changed course(Image: Fox 32)
A mystery object feared to be an alien spacecraft has “unexpectedly picked up speed” as it hurtles through space — and towards Earth. The interstellar object known as 3I/ ATLAS has been bursting through the Solar System at 130,000mph.
But boffins at Nasa say its speed has now soared to approximately 152,000mph. And they have noticed an “extra kick” moving the 12-mile craft off its predicted path, which can’t be explained by the sun’s gravity.
The sun contains almost all of the solar system’s mass, meaning its weight pulls all the planets together in a predictable motion scientists can measure. But these new movements by 3I/ATLAS appear to defy our laws of gravity.
The mystery space rock has left boffins baffled(Image: Fox 32)
While Nasa believes the sun’s gravity is mainly responsible for the speed boost, scientists are having a harder time figuring out what has caused 3I/ATLAS to noticeably shift away from it.
Most experts are convinced the Manhattan-sized space rock was a comet believed to have travelled to the Sun from another star in a journey lasting billions of years.
But theoretical physicist Avi Loeb warned it could be an “extraterrestrial artefact” about to make first contact. And he argues the acceleration and the object’s striking blue hue might mean it is actually artificial.
The comet’s colour is one reason a boffin fears it could be a spaceship(Image: AP)
The heat of the sun would be causing the icy cold space rock to melt and shoot out jets of gas trapped inside if it were a normal comet. This could potentially push the comet in a different direction.
And Prof Loeb has revealed that astronomers are still awaiting evidence that 3I/ATLAS has released anywhere close to enough gas to prove the object is really a comet.
It is now just six weeks from reaching its closest point to Earth and the physicist believes that not detecting a cloud of gas coming from the object would be a clear sign that this latest speed boost was powered by an extra-terrestrial rocket engine.
He wrote on Medium: “If 3I/ATLAS is not enshrouded in a much more massive gas cloud after perihelion than it had in the months preceding perihelion, then its recent non-gravitational acceleration must have resulted from a different cause than cometary evaporation.”
The object is set to make its closest approach to Earth on December 19 and boffins expect it to zoom past Earth at a distance of around 150million miles away.
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