A New Interstellar Visitor or Alien Reconnaissance?

A controversial, non-peer-reviewed paper published on July 16, 2025, on arXiv has reignited debate over the possibility of extraterrestrial technology within our solar system. Authored by researchers Adam Hibberd, Adam Crowl, and Harvard astronomer Abraham Loeb, the paper suggests that a recently discovered interstellar object 31/ATLAS may not be natural at all.

Discovered on July 1, 2025, 31/ATLAS is hurtling toward the sun at over 130,000 miles per hour. Live Science reports that it’s likely a large comet with a surrounding coma of ice, gas, and dust. But the paper makes a far bolder claim: that the object exhibits anomalous orbital characteristics inconsistent with natural cometary behavior.

According to the authors, 31/ATLAS might perform a “clandestine reverse Solar Oberth Manoeuvre,” a theoretical propulsion trick allowing it to remain bound to the sun’s gravity well possibly for reconnaissance or interception purposes. The object’s trajectory includes potential flybys of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, with a low retrograde orbital tilt that if engineered could be ideal for surveillance or data collection by an advanced intelligence.

Even more provocative? The paper projects the object may approach Earth by November or December 2025.

The response from the broader scientific community has been swift and skeptical. Most astrophysicists and planetary scientists dismiss the alien hypothesis as “nonsense,” arguing the object’s behavior can be explained by natural phenomena especially given its visible coma and trajectory consistent with other long-period comets.

Still, the paper’s presence on arXiv, paired with Loeb’s high-profile history of controversial interstellar theories (including his work on ‘Oumuamua), guarantees public and scientific interest will intensify in the coming months.

Until further observations are made, 31/ATLAS will remain just what its name suggests: an unknown traveler part celestial, part cipher.