Don’t believe the comet conspiracy theories.
Published Nov 10, 2025 11:42 AM EST
3I/ATLAS is only the third known interstellar object to pass through the solar system. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Shadow the Scientist Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
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3I/ATLAS has quickly earned celestial celebrity status since its discovery in early July. It’s only the third known object to visit our solar system from deep space, and at around 130,000 mph, it’s also the fastest comet ever clocked. 3I/ATLAS’s closest pass to the sun so far occurred on October 30, offering three spacecraft an unprecedented chance to document the ancient, icy cosmic rock.
Early examinations noted the comet’s gas coma–the cloud of sublimated debris formed as it passes near a star–experienced a “rapid brightening” compared to previously observed comets at similar distances from the sun. While earlier observations indicated 3I/ATLAS appeared red in color, additional analysis has led astronomers to note in a preprint study it’s actually “distinctly bluer than the sun.”
Multiple outlets asserted our interstellar visitor had suddenly, and perhaps inexplicably, changed in appearance. Meanwhile, the internet has done what it does best: generate a deluge of misinformation about the comet’s “true” extraterrestrial identity. But according to study coauthor Qicheng Zhang at Arizona’s Lowell Observatory, the conspiracies aren’t worth your time.
“We don’t have any evidence for the gas coma changing colors,” Zhang told Space.com on November 7. “Our result just showed that the gas coma is likely still around and contributing substantially to the overall brightness.”
Speaking with Popular Science, Zhang adds he’s more frustrated with the people pushing unsubstantiated ideas than the conspiratorial thinking itself. He specifically cites Avi Loeb, a Harvard University astronomer and frequent proponent of various unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) theories. Loeb has repeatedly suggested that “alien tech” may explain the comet’s coloration.
“I think my main source of annoyance though is just that so much of it has been propagated by someone with a background in science who should know better,” Zhang tells Popular Science. “A large fraction of the misinformation I’ve seen floating around can be directly traced back to him misinterpreting [or] not fully reading the papers or data he comments on.”
Technically speaking, 3I/ATLAS only “changed color” when the coma brightened as it sped closer to the sun. That doesn’t mean the reported hue shift was particularly striking. Zhang made clear that this brightening also actually started occurring by early September. There are even multiple photos from hobbyist astronomers around that time that already show 3I/ATLAS possessing a bluish-green gas coma.
So, no, the United States didn’t orchestrate a government shutdown to cover up E.T tourists–but that doesn’t mean the comet isn’t worth your admiration. NASA has yet to release additional photos due to limited operations during the US government shutdown, but there is still a chance the agency will reveal images taken by its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on October 3. Even more glimpses of the comet are assured to ramp up as 3I/ATLAS reaches its closest approach to Earth on December 19, when it will soar past us from only around 167 million miles away.
“On a more optimistic note, I do hope more people will begin see how the anomalies of this comet are just weird things comets do, and perhaps driving more interest to understand them better,” says Zhang.
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