A strange visitor from beyond our solar system is lighting up headlines — and imaginations — once again.
The object known as 3I/ATLAS, currently soaring through our solar system, has been captured in newly released images by NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars, and the internet is buzzing with theories ranging from unusual comet to alien spacecraft, per the Daily Mail.
While many scientists have settled on the explanation that 3I/ATLAS is a comet, the latest visuals — especially a peculiar cylindrical shape and a glowing green hue — are making some experts and amateur stargazers think twice.
NASA’s Mars Rover Sends Back Eerie Cylindrical Image
The jaw-dropping photos were sent back by Perseverance's Navcam on the Martian surface.
What caught attention? A bizarre, elongated object with a ghostly glow, appearing more like a metallic log than a space rock.
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, a prominent voice in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, took a closer look.
He believes the stretched-out appearance could be a technical illusion.
“The apparent cylinder from the rover's 'Navcam' was likely caused by the camera stacking hundreds of images of 3I/ATLAS over a period of about 10 minutes, making it look more like a log than a ball,” Loeb explained.
Though he suggests the object is more likely small and round, he added it still may measure over 28 miles in diameter — a staggering size by any measure.
Green Glow Fuels Alien Spacecraft Speculation
But not everyone agrees with Loeb’s interpretation.
Dr. Horace Drew, a former senior researcher with Australia’s CSIRO, is taking a more provocative stance.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he dismissed the comet theory altogether.
“It is not a 'comet',” Drew declared.
He theorized the eerie green glow captured in some of the images could be caused by nickel coating, which humans also use to shield and protect Earth-made spacecraft.
Drew also challenged Loeb’s claim that the cylinder shape was just a stretched image. He pointed to an amateur astronomer’s telescope photo taken from Earth that appeared to show the same shape.
“We can see an extended white shape, with a green coma outside. Not a small white ball,” he wrote.
High-Res Image From Mars May Settle the Debate
Loeb isn’t ruling out the need for better visuals.
He’s eagerly awaiting a higher resolution image from the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which has yet to be released by NASA.
That image, according to Loeb, could give scientists the clarity they need.
Loeb told the Daily Mail: “Clear images and a scan of the supposed comet's composition were the key findings that could definitively tell scientists what 3I/ATLAS is.”
He has previously floated the theory that 3I/ATLAS might be a second alien craft, following Oumuamua, the strange object that flew past Earth in 2017 and sparked its own wave of UFO theories.
With images already circulating online, space enthusiasts have begun asking why NASA and other space agencies are so quiet.
The European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed it successfully used the Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter to observe 3I/ATLAS, but warned it could take days or even weeks to analyze and release the data.
NASA, meanwhile, has offered no new insight.