The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
01-11-2025
UFO Activity Near Nuclear Sites Gains Peer-Reviewed Validation
UFO Activity Near Nuclear Sites Gains Peer-Reviewed Validation
Scientists have published groundbreaking peer-reviewed research establishing a statistical connection between mysterious aerial objects and Cold War-era nuclear weapons testing. The study represents a watershed moment for unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) research, marking one of the first times such work has successfully navigated the rigorous scrutiny of mainstream scientific publication.
Dr. Beatriz Villarroel from the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics in Sweden and Dr. Stephen Bruehl from Vanderbilt University Medical Center analyzed over 100,000 mysterious bright spots called "transients" that appeared in photographic plates from the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey between 1949 and 1957. These star-like objects materialized briefly and then vanished, captured on film before humanity launched its first satellite into orbit. The researchers discovered that transients were 45 percent more likely to appear during a three-day window surrounding nuclear weapons tests, with the strongest correlation occurring the day after a test was conducted.
Before Sputnik: Objects in Orbit That Shouldn't Exist
The timing of these observations carries profound implications claim the writers of the study, which appears in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports. The study period concluded on April 28, 1957 - more than five months before the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, becoming the first nation to place an artificial satellite in orbit. During these years, between 1949 and 1957, the United States, Soviet Union, and Great Britain conducted 124 above-ground nuclear tests, detonating atomic weapons in the open atmosphere rather than underground. The transients exhibited characteristics inconsistent with natural astronomical phenomena.
"These are objects before Sputnik One when humans had nothing up there, and these things, no matter what they are, they need to be really flat, reflective like a mirror," Dr. Villarroel explained to the Daily Mail. "I personally don't know anything natural that looks like that."
The transients appeared as distinct point sources with characteristics resembling highly polished metallic surfaces, potentially spinning like discs. Importantly, the objects manifested as discrete points rather than streaks across the 50-minute photographic exposures, suggesting they remained relatively stationary during observation periods.
Statistical Patterns Reveal Nuclear Connection
The research team employed sophisticated statistical methods to test their hypothesis, analyzing the relationship between transient occurrences and nuclear weapons testing across 2,718 days of observations. Their findings revealed multiple layers of correlation. Not only were transients significantly more likely to appear within nuclear testing windows, but the total number of transients observed increased by 8.5 percent on dates when tests occurred.
The temporal pattern proved particularly intriguing. While transients appeared throughout the study period, the association reached statistical significance specifically for observations made one day after nuclear detonations. On these post-test days, transients were spotted 68 percent more frequently than on unrelated dates. This timing argues against simple explanations such as atmospheric debris from explosions, which would be expected to appear during or immediately after tests rather than the following day.
Beyond the nuclear connection, researchers identified a secondary pattern linking transients to contemporaneous witness reports of unidentified aerial phenomena. The study incorporated data from UFOCAT, a comprehensive database maintained by the Center for UFO Studies that originated with the U.S. Air Force-funded University of Colorado UFO Study conducted between 1966 and 1968. This database contained reports from 89.3 percent of the dates in the study period, providing a rich dataset for correlation analysis.
The statistical analysis revealed that for every additional UAP report on a given date, there was an 8.5 percent increase in the number of transients observed. While this correlation was relatively modest, it achieved statistical significance well beyond chance. More strikingly, the effects appeared to be additive: dates featuring both UAP reports and nuclear testing windows showed the highest total number of transients. "The implications are this might be the first scientific evidence of a non-human intelligence," noted investigative journalist Ross Coulthart in his coverage of the findings.
The research also uncovered an intriguing temporal anomaly. The last transient observed within a nuclear testing window occurred on March 17, 1956, despite 38 additional above-ground nuclear tests conducted during the subsequent 13 months of the study period. This abrupt cessation parallels previous research showing a dramatic decrease in UAP activity at nuclear weapons production and assembly sites after 1953, suggesting a possible shift in the phenomenon's behavior during the mid-1950s.
A nuclear-related surface shot is fired at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1956.
The successful publication of this research in Scientific Reports, a Nature portfolio journal, represents a significant milestone for UAP research. Most papers discussing unidentified anomalous phenomena face rejection from mainstream scientific journals, often dismissed without serious consideration. Having this work pass peer review means independent scientists examined the methodology and data analysis without finding grounds to reject the findings as unsubstantiated.
Dr. Villarroel acknowledged the study's limitations while defending its validity. Automated methods identified the more than 100,000 transients in the dataset, and while a subset has undergone manual verification, more sophisticated validation using artificial intelligence might reduce potential misidentifications and strengthen the signal-to-noise ratio. The UAP witness report data also contains inherent noise due to observer error and the lack of systematic validation for individual reports. Additionally, observations came from a single geographic point—the Palomar Observatory - while nuclear tests and UAP reports occurred worldwide.
"Nature can always surprise us with something we could never have imagined. So, I cannot exclude that there might be some other explanation that is just outside my imagination," Dr. Villarroel told NewsNation. "But from what I see, I cannot find any other consistent explanation than that we are looking at something artificial." The research team systematically ruled out prosaic explanations including photographic plate contamination, emulsion defects, nuclear fallout effects, and atmospheric phenomena created by the explosions themselves.
Historical Context and Future Implications
The findings add empirical weight to decades of anecdotal reports connecting UAP sightings to nuclear facilities and weapons tests. Witness accounts from the 1950s frequently described unusual metallic objects appearing before, during, and after nuclear detonations. Former military personnel have testified about UAP interference with nuclear missile systems, including the famous 1967 Malmstrom Air Force Base incident where multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles mysteriously went offline during a reported UAP encounter.
Dr. Villarroel noted that if the transients truly represent artificial objects in high-altitude orbits or within the upper atmosphere, they may still be present today. The transient database contains approximately 35,000 objects in the northern hemisphere alone, suggesting a substantial population of whatever phenomena the observations represent. Whether these objects continue to monitor human nuclear activities remains an open question, though their apparent disappearance from nuclear testing windows after 1956 suggests the phenomenon may be responsive to changes in human behavior.
The research raises fundamental questions about human understanding of both our planet's space environment and the potential for non-human intelligence to observe terrestrial activities. While the study's authors carefully avoid definitive conclusions about the nature of the transients, their data-driven approach provides a template for future investigations. As observational technologies advance and more historical photographic archives undergo digital analysis, researchers may uncover additional patterns that either support or challenge the current findings.
The intersection of nuclear weapons development and unexplained aerial phenomena represents one of the most persistent threads in UAP research. This peer-reviewed study transforms what was previously anecdotal into statistically significant correlation, moving the conversation from speculation toward empirically grounded investigation. Whether the transients represent previously unknown atmospheric physics, surveillance technology from an unknown source, or something entirely unexpected, their systematic documentation in the scientific literature marks an important step toward understanding one of humanity's most enduring mysteries.
Top image: "Ivy Mike" atmospheric nuclear test - November 1952.
Bruehl, S., Villarroel, B. 2025. Transients in the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS-I) may be associated with nuclear testing and reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena. Scientific Reports 15, 34125. Available at:
Imagine standing on the shores of the modern-day Black Sea about 8,000 years ago. Instead of brackish waves, you would have seen a calm freshwater lake surrounded by fertile plains and forested hills. That landscape changed dramatically around 7,600 years ago. Marine geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman, after years of sediment analysis and sonar scans, proposed that a catastrophic flood had occurred when rising Mediterranean waters surged through the Bosporus Strait. This event rapidly transformed the Black Sea from a freshwater lake into a vast saltwater basin.
Sediment cores taken from the seabed reveal ancient shorelines more than 100 meters below present sea level, supporting the idea of a sudden inundation. While this event occurred after the last Ice Age, it remains one of the most dramatic post-glacial sea-level changes. It has led some researchers to wonder whether human settlements—perhaps even early civilizations—were lost beneath the rising waters.
Echoes Beneath the Waves
Over the past two decades, researchers have mapped submerged landscapes along the Black Sea’s former shoreline. Using sonar and underwater drones, they’ve documented features that appear to show organized shapes and linear patterns. While some formations resemble terraces or walls, these interpretations remain speculative. No peer-reviewed study has yet confirmed the presence of definitive pre-Holocene architecture beneath the Black Sea.
Still, the surrounding basin was once fertile and habitable. Archaeological evidence from the nearby Anatolian and Balkan regions shows Neolithic communities thriving in the millennia leading up to the flood. It’s plausible that similar groups occupied now-submerged lowlands. If so, their settlements may have been erased swiftly, with little trace left behind—except perhaps in the memories of their descendants.
Evidence of complex human activity at the end of the Ice Age does exist—above sea level. Göbekli Tepe, located in southeastern Turkey (one of my absolute favorite sites), was constructed around 9600 BCE, shortly after the Younger Dryas cold snap. The site features towering limestone pillars, some up to 10 tons, carved with animals, symbols, and abstract motifs. Its builders used advanced quarrying and organizational skills, even though they had no pottery, no written language, and no domesticated crops.
The sophistication of Göbekli Tepe challenges the traditional view that complex societies only emerged after agriculture. While the people who built it were likely hunter-gatherers, they clearly had the social coordination and symbolic systems often associated with later civilizations. This raises the question: Could Göbekli Tepe represent a surviving cultural lineage—descendants of an earlier, now-lost society forced to adapt after environmental collapse? Or is Göbekli Tepe a civilization on its own? Lost to time? If you believe there is a possibility, read this article I wrote a while back.
Atlantis Reconsidered
References to lost civilizations are not limited to scientific theories. Plato’s tale of Atlantis, often regarded as a philosophical allegory, has inspired generations of researchers to search for real-world parallels. Around the globe, underwater features have stirred debate: the Yonaguni Monument off Japan, structures in the Gulf of Khambhat off India, and the Bimini Road near the Bahamas.
The Bimini Road, in particular, consists of large, flat stones arranged in a roughly linear path just offshore. While many geologists identify it as natural beachrock shaped by erosion and wave action, a few researchers argue the stones show signs of human modification. No definitive tools or artifacts have been found to confirm this, and mainstream science considers the formation natural. However, its ambiguity keeps it in the public eye and reflects a broader curiosity about what the oceans might be hiding.
Supporting evidence includes peaks in platinum levels, nanodiamonds, and tiny glass-like spheres found in geological layers from that time. However, the scientific community remains divided. Critics point to the lack of a definitive crater, while proponents argue the explosion may have occurred in the air or on ice, leaving minimal physical trace.
If the hypothesis is correct, such an event could have devastated early societies, particularly those concentrated in vulnerable lowland regions. Any civilization that had emerged by then may have been scattered or reduced to small bands of survivors, their cultural memory passed on through story, symbol, and myth.
Hidden in Oral Tradition
Across the world, traditional stories tell of great floods, fire from the sky, and civilizations destroyed in cataclysm. The Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh recounts a massive deluge. In Hindu texts, Manu survives a divine flood. Native American, Aboriginal Australian, and African oral traditions include tales of fire, shaking earth, and rising seas.
Historians caution against taking myths at face value. Still, the shared elements in these narratives are striking. While independent invention is possible, some scholars suggest these stories may preserve collective memories of real events—filtered through generations and transformed by cultural lenses. If so, they could offer clues to a time when humanity faced disasters so profound that only myth could preserve their meaning.
The Pursuit of Proof
The biggest challenge in confirming a pre-Ice Age civilization is the passage of time itself. Sea levels rose more than 120 meters after the last glacial maximum, submerging vast coastal areas where early populations likely lived. Underwater environments accelerate decay: wood, bone, and textiles degrade rapidly; storms and currents bury or break structures.
The Vera Rubin Observatory found a stellar stream coming from the M61 galaxy, a spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. It extends for about 50 kpc, or 163,000 light years. The face-on image of M61 comes from the PHANGS (Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS) survey. Image Credit: Romanowsky et al. 2025, RNAAS.
The Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) hasn't yet begun it's much-anticipated Legacy Survey of Space and Time. But it saw its first light in June 2025, when it captured its Virgo First Look images as part of commisioning its main camera. Those images are a sample of how the observatory will perform the LSST and feature the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.
While the galaxies in the Virgo Cluster have been well-studied, the powerful VRO has revealed new, previously unseen details. Astronomer have detected an enormous stellar stream emanating from one of the cluster's galaxies, Messier 61 (NGC 4303.)
The discovery is in a new research letter titled "A stellar stream around the spiral galaxy Messier 61 in Rubin First Look imaging." It'll be published in the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, and the lead author is Aaron Romanowsky from the Department of Physics & Astronomy at San Jose State University.
The authors explain that among all the new detail revealed in the VRO images, a new stellar stream stands out. "One dramatic novelty is a long, narrow stellar stream extending Northward from the MW-like galaxy M61," they write.
These types of streams are usually the remnants of a dwarf galaxy or a globular cluster that's been torn apart by the larger galaxy's tidal forces. The orbit stretches the stars into a stream. There are many known streams in the Milky Way, and they're mostly tens of thousands of light years in length. But the newly-discovered stream at M61 dwarfs those ones: it's about 163,000 light years long.
"Giant spiral galaxies like the Milky Way (MW) constantly accrete dwarf galaxies that disrupt into stellar streams, as hallmarks of the hierarchical universe, useful for testing galaxy formation and dark matter theories," the authors write in the research letter. M61 is giant spiral just like the MW, and the stream could come from the same disruption that caused a starburst in its nucleus about 10 million years ago.
In fact, the stream's progenitor galaxy could be responsible for more than just the stream. It may have shaped M61 in more fundamental ways. "Given an infall halo mass of ∼ 8 × 1010M⊙ expected from its stellar mass, the stream progenitor galaxy could be responsible for the bar formation, starburst, and active galactic nucleus in M61, reminiscent of the Sgr impact on the MW," the authors write.
The Sgr they're referring to is the stellar stream from the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy. It's a satellite of the Milky Way that follows a polar orbit around the MW. It's passed through the MW's plane multiple times, and data from the ESA's Gaia shows that the interactions triggered massive star formation episodes in the MW.
The stream also has a complex end plume that awaits more detailed study. It's about 9 x 4 kpc, or about 30,000 by 13,000 light years.
The stream from M61 terminates in a plume with a complex structure.
Image Credit: Romanowsky et al. 2025, RNAAS.
Many of us have been waiting for the Vera Rubin Observatory to begin observations, and this discovery of the new stellar stream in a much-observed galaxy is just adding more excitement. Who knows what else is hiding in plain sight, waiting to be revealed by the new observatory?
"It is remarkable that the stream went long unnoticed around a Messier galaxy," the authors conclude. "We expect a treasure trove of substructures to be unveiled around other galaxies with future Rubin data."
Image of comet 3I/ATLAS captured by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on Gemini South at Cerro Pachón in Chile (Credit : International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)
Comet 3I/ATLAS, only the third known visitor from beyond our Solar System, has been brightening far more rapidly than expected as it approaches perihelion, its closest point to the Sun. From Earth, the comet has been positioned almost directly behind the Sun for the past month, making ground based observations nearly impossible during this crucial period. Instead, the team of astronomers have been watching from space based observatories.
Enter an unlikely group of observers - solar monitoring satellites. Researchers Qicheng Zhang from Lowell Observatory and Karl Battams from the US Naval Research Laboratory realised that spacecraft designed to watch the Sun's corona could also track the comet during its near conjunction with our star. Using instruments aboard STEREO-A, SOHO, and GOES-19, they captured the comet's dramatic transformation.
STEREO Observatory spacecraft during solar panel deploy
(Credit : NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)
What they found was striking. Between mid September and late October, as 3I/ATLAS closed in from about 2 astronomical units (roughly twice Earth's distance from the Sun) to just 1.36 AU, its brightness surged dramatically. The team calculated that the comet's brightness increased proportionally to the inverse of heliocentric distance to the 7.5 power, a significantly steeper brightening than the earlier rate observed when it was farther out. To put this in perspective, most comets brighten gradually as they approach the Sun and ice turns to gas. This interstellar visitor is brightening at roughly twice that typical rate, suggesting something unusual is happening on its surface.
The observations also revealed that the comet appears distinctly bluer than sunlight, a telltale sign that gases, rather than just dust, are contributing substantially to its visible brightness. Earlier observations had found the comet's dust to be reddish, making this blue shift particularly noteworthy. The researchers suspect emissions from molecules like cyanogen and possibly ammonia are responsible for this unusual colouring.
Images from GOES-19's coronagraph resolved the comet as an extended object with a visible atmosphere, or coma, stretching about four arc-minutes across the sky. This glowing envelope of gas and dust surrounding the nucleus confirms that 3I/ATLAS is actively shedding material as solar heating intensifies. The comet reached perihelion on October 29, and the team's calculations suggest it may have brightened to around magnitude 9, bright enough to be visible through smaller amateur telescopes. Now that it's emerging from behind the Sun and returning to dark skies in November and December, ground based observers will finally get their chance to study this remarkable interstellar wanderer in detail.
GOES-U spacecraft rendering
(Credit : NOAA/Lockheed Martin)
What caused such rapid brightening remains an open question. The researchers speculate that the comet's unusual behaviour might stem from its composition, its rapid approach speed, or perhaps peculiarities acquired during its long journey through interstellar space.
Relics of the impactor identified in the Chang'e-6 lunar regolith. Credit: Prof. Xu,Y., et al. (2025)
Meteorites are both the messengers and time capsules of the Solar System. As pieces of larger asteroids that broke apart, or debris thrown up by impacts on other bodies, these "space rocks" retain the composition of where they originated from. As a result, scientists can study other planets, moons, and objects by examining the abundance of chemical elements in meteorites. Unfortunately, such studies are limited when it comes to meteorites retrieved on Earth, due to erosion, atmospheric filtration, and geological processes (like volcanism and mantle convection).
However, meteor impacts are well-preserved in the lunar environment, as it has virtually no atmosphere, experiences no wind or water erosion, and is (for the most part) geologically inactive. Recently, a research team with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) examined samples returned by the Chang'e-6 mission from the far side of the Moon. They identified seven olivine-bearing minerals from the lunar regolith they examined, which they determined to have been deposited by Carbonaceous Ivuna-type (CI) chondrites, a type of fragile meteorite that rarely survives impact with Earth.
CAS Professors Xu Yigang and Lin Mang led the research team. It consisted of researchers from the CAS's Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG), the College of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the CAS University, the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University, the Research Organization of Science and Technology of Ritsumeikan University, and the Department of Archaeology, Environmental Changes and Geo-Chemistry at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The paper describing their findings was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on Oct. 20th.
*Meteorites bombard a molten landscape in this illustration of the Late Heavy Bombardment.
Credit: NASA GSFC Conceptual Image Lab*
CI chondrites are a rare type of carbonaceous meteorite, which are defined by their relative abundance of carbon (up to 3%) in the form of graphite, carbonates, and organic compounds (including amino acids). The parent bodies originally formed in the outer Solar System, and many migrated into the inner Solar System when the planets were still forming. Due to their fragile nature, these meteorites account for less than 1% of meteorite samples examined by scientists. But on the Moon, chondrites are largely preserved, and their chemical makeup speaks volumes about the environment in which they formed.
"Systematic identification and classification of meteorites on the airless Moon thus provide additional critical constraints for reconstructing the primordial accretion history and impactor population of the inner Solar System," they state in their paper. However, this remains challenging since meteors will vaporize upon colliding at high velocities with the lunar surface. Upon examining the samples, the team confirmed that they were formed from molten droplets resulting from impact, which then underwent rapid cooling and crystallization due to exposure to the extreme cold and vacuum of space.
However, using textural characterization and an analysis of in-situ triple oxygen isotopes, the team confirmed that the samples are relics of CI-like chondrites that struck the Moon before the Nectarian Period (approximately 3.92 billion years ago). This coincides with the Late Heavy Bombardment, which took place 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago. This period was characterized by a disproportionately high number of asteroids and comets striking the Earth-Moon system and other bodies in the inner Solar System.
These impacts are believed to have been the means through which water and organic molecules were introduced to the inner Solar System. Since CI chondrites are known to be rich in water and organic materials, as demonstrated by the samples returned from asteroid Bennu that showed traces of amino acids, these findings support the hypothesis that asteroids played a key role in delivering water and other volatiles to the inner Solar System. Additionally, the team suggests that previously-detected deposits of water ice on the Moon, which showed indications of certain positive oxygen isotopes, were likely delivered by CI chondrites in the past.
Based on these findings, the team conducted a preliminary statistical analysis of meteoritic materials, indicating that CI chondrites likely played a significantly greater role in shaping the Earth-Moon system than previously thought. Their study offers new insight into the evolution of our Solar System and the events that helped give rise to life. Furthermore, the integrated methodology they devised could be a valuable tool for assessing other returned samples of extraterrestrial materials, pointing the way towards future research opportunities.
A new report on the enigmatic interstellar visitor3I/ATLAShas revealed deeper insights into the object’s behavior, which include signs of non-gravitational motion during its recent closest approach to the Sun.
Presently, most astronomers maintain that the space object, discovered in July 2025, is a natural comet, based on a growing body of data that confirms this interpretation. The object is the third known interstellar visitor that has entered our planetary neighborhood from another star system.
3I/ATLAS is also helping confirm data that suggests such objects probably make appearances far more frequently in our Solar System than previously known. With its glowing gassy envelope—what astronomers call a coma—and other key traits that have manifested as the object has moved closer to the Sun, little doubt has been left about the interstellar visitor’s identity as a natural object.
However, there are still some experts who interpret its recent activity as being noteworthy indicators—if additional related phenomena were to be confirmed in future observations—which some might expect to associate with objects of technological origin. So what does the latest data reveal, and why does it still have some astronomers divided over whether 3I/ATLAS might show signs associated with intelligent life?
What the New Report Reveals
A recent report by researcher Davide Farnoccia with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers some of the latest data on the gravitational characteristics displayed by 3I/ATLAS during its journey through our Solar System.
Farnoccia specializes in the study of small objects and their orbits, which includes “nongravitational perturbations” some space objects display, as well as whether some near-Earth objects (NEOs) may pose an impact hazard to Earth.
According to Farnoccia’s report, 3I/ATLAS follows a hyperbolic orbit, displaying an eccentricity of e = 6.1373 (rounded). This figure is important, as it significantly exceeds the accepted value of 1 that astronomers recognize as being required to escape the Sun’s gravity. This means that the object’s trajectory confirms that 3I/ATLAS is not gravitationally bound to our Solar System, confirming astronomers’ suspicions that once it completes its recent planetary drive-by visit, the object will continue back into interstellar space.
NASA diagram showing the trajectory of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS
(Image Credit: NASA).
Perihelion Surprises
3I/ATLAS reached perihelion—its closest point to the Sun—on October 29, 2025, with the object reaching a point of approximately 1.356 astronomical units (AU) from our nearest star. This placed the comet just beyond Earth’s orbit, displaying a steep retrograde inclination of around 175 degrees, which reveals an incoming path that is almost completely the opposite direction of planetary motion.
Farnoccia’s report confirms that the object also displayed something that many astronomers were eager to see if 3I/ATLAS would reveal as it approached perihelion: signs of measurable non-gravitational accelerations.
Unlike the odd, elongated shape of 1I/‘Oumuamua, the first confirmed interstellar object discovered in 2017, and its dusty successor 2I/Borisov, the confirmation that 3I/ATLAS displays measurable non-gravitational accelerations (the data in Farnocchia’s report can be found here) offers a good indication of cometary behavior driven by outgassing, making the interstellar visitor a valuable new sample of icy material from another star system.
However, not all scientists interpret the object’s non-gravitational accelerations as being further evidence of the object’s identity as an interstellar comet. Some have even suggested that such behavior around the time of perihelion could be a prime indicator of something more complex.
Watching for Signs of ET Signatures
Just before 3I/ATLAS reached perihelion, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, in an appearance on NewsMax, said that if the object seemed to display an increase in energy as it neared the Sun, this could be interpreted as evidence that the object is something more than just a comet.
“If it picks up extra energy on its flyby, that would clinch it,” Kaku said. “That means there’s extraterrestrial intelligence involved.”
Kaku then offered a general explanation for what is known as the Oberth effect, a powered maneuver in which a spacecraft falls under the influence of an object’s gravity and then uses its source of propulsion to achieve further acceleration during its fall. The result is that the spacecraft achieves additional speed by using its passage within the gravitational well to gain kinetic energy, which is far more efficient than relying solely on its engines to provide thrust.
“The Oberth effect says that if you were to whip around the Sun, you would pick up extra energy in the process,” Kaku explained. “So we’re gonna watch for it. The energy in must equal the energy out, according to the ordinary theory. But if that’s not true—if there’s more energy going out than in—it means that there’s an energy boost coming from whipping around the Sun, and that requires intelligence.”
So, do the non-gravitational accelerations 3I/ATLAS has now been confirmed to have displayed around the time of perihelion point to signs of technology, as Kaku and others had been waiting to see?
Evidence of Aliens, or Mass Loss Through Evaporation?
Since the object’s discovery this summer, Harvard theoretical physicist Avi Loeb has provided ongoing speculations, in nearly a dozen scientific papers and in updates on his Medium page, about the anomalies 3I/ATLAS displays. While Loeb and his colleagues have at times conceded that the object is indeed most likely an interstellar comet, his ongoing championing of other possibilities has also led to pushback from some of his colleagues in the astronomical community.
Regarding the recent activity 3I/ATLAS displayed as it approached perihelion, Loeb notes that if its current motion is driven by gas outflow, it should lose roughly half its mass in about six months, meaning around 10% of its mass would evaporate during its month-long swing near the Sun. Such rapid mass loss should produce a large, observable gas plume around the comet in late 2025.
Loeb also says that such massive evaporation, which should be evident in future observations of 3I/ATLAS once it emerges from behind the Sun, might also explain phenomena like its “rapid brightening,” as described in a recent paper by Qicheng Zhang of the Lowell Observatory and co-author Karl Battams of the US Naval Research Laboratory.
However, there is another interpretation of the non-gravitational movement that Loeb offers, which remains in keeping with his more exotic speculations from recent weeks.
“Alternatively, the non-gravitational acceleration might be the technological signature of an internal engine,” Loeb wrote in a recent post on his Medium page. Loeb also argues that 3I/ATLAS’s unexpectedly blue color, which it began to display at perihelion, is unusual for a natural comet, as most would expect them to appear redder due to dust scattering and its cold surface temperature.
Based on this, Loeb suggests the anomaly could potentially stem from the presence of a hot engine or some source of artificial illumination. However, the Harvard astrophysicist also concedes that this odd coloration may simply be due to ionized carbon monoxide, a natural cometary process. In short, while the latest data is intriguing and invites continued scrutiny, the evidence still favors a natural cometary origin.
More Data on the Strangest Comet Ever Seen
New data continues to be collected about 3I/ATLAS, with the current number of observations detailed in Farnoccia’s report totaling 647 collected over a 167-day observation arc. This provides high confidence in the orbit determination of 3I/ATLAS, and ensures that the object poses no threat to Earth, with a minimum orbital intersection distance (MOID) of 0.363 AU.
With its confirmed interstellar origin and active cometary nature, it remains hard to argue against 3I/ATLAS’s identity as a natural space object, and one that offers a rare opportunity to study pristine foreign ices, dust, and organic compounds. Frustratingly, additional data that may have been obtained by NASA cameras like the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter remains inaccessible to the public as the recent U.S. government shutdown, already one of the longest in history, persists.
Fortunately, space agencies in several other nations, as well as the independent efforts of NASA researchers like Farnoccia, continue to collect new information on 3I/ATLAS that may potentially help to shed new light on the object and its unusual qualities, and more broadly, the chemical diversity of planetary systems beyond our own.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached atmicah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.
While most scientists believe it’s a natural comet, one Harvard astronomer has suggested its unusual features could hint at signs of alien technology.
On 1 July 2025, astronomers using the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, detected a faint, fast-moving object unlike anything seen before.
The discovery, officially named 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1), marks only the third confirmed interstellar object ever observed - after ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
But what exactly is 3I/ATLAS, where is it going, and could this strange visitor from another star be more than just a comet?
NASA has officially identified 3I/ATLAS as a comet and not an asteroid on Wednesday, following detailed telescope observations that revealed clear signs of activity.
Scientists observed an icy core enveloped by a coma, the luminous halo of gas and dust.
This outgassing and the release of dust, mean that 3I/ATLAS is composed primarily of frozen compounds, which is consistent with comet behaviour.
The interstellar object is currently traversing the solar system, offering researchers a rare opportunity to study material from beyond our cosmic neighbourhood.
Its name was derived from its origins: “3” for the third interstellar object found, “I” for interstellar, and “ATLAS” for the telescope network that spotted it.
What makes it extraordinary is where it came from. Its speed and trajectory show that it’s not gravitationally bound to the Sun - meaning it must have originated in another star system and wandered into ours by chance.
This NASA/ESA image shows interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, captured by Hubble on 21 July 2025, from 277 million miles away.Credit: NASA/European Space Agency via AP
How fast is it travelling and where is it going?
According to astronomers, 3I/ATLAS is racing through space at more than 200,000 km/h (around 61 km per second), and its speed is increasing as it approaches the Sun.
It’s following a hyperbolic orbit, which means that it’s moving too quickly to be captured by the Sun’s gravity.
“It’s going to kind of cruise through the inner solar system – in between Mars and Earth’s orbit – and then it will fly past the sun," Con Stoitsis, comet and meteor director at the Astronomical Society of Victoria, told The Guardian.
"This one is on what we call a hyperbolic orbit. So it’s not gravitationally bound to the sun. It’s travelling much too fast, and so it will just fly out the other side of the solar system," he added.
According to NASA, the closest 3I/Atlas will come to Earth is about 270 million kilometres.
Could it be something more than a natural object?
For most astronomers, 3I/ATLAS is an exciting but natural phenomenon. But one prominent scientist - Professor Avi Loeb, a theoretical astrophysicist at Harvard University - has advocated the need for a closer examination of the object.
Through the Galileo Project, which investigates potential evidence of extraterrestrial technology, Loeb has been asking provocative, eyebrow-raising questions about 3I/ATLAS’s origin.
In a series of scientific essays published on Medium, he argues that scientists should still consider whether the object could be an alien technological - an artificial probe or artefact from another civilisation.
In one essay titled “Does 3I/ATLAS Generate Its Own Light?”, Loeb questioned whether its brightness might stem from self-luminosity rather than reflected sunlight - a property unlike any known comet.
“The hypothesis in question is that the recent interstellar visitor to our Solar System, 3I/ATLAS1-10, is a technological artefact, and furthermore has active intelligence. If this is the case, then two possibilities follow: first, that its intentions are entirely benign, and second, they are malign, or somewhere in between," he wrote in a paper titled “Is the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS alien technology?”
"The consequences, should the hypothesis turn out to be correct, could potentially be dire for humanity, and would possibly require defensive measures,” he warned.
NASA has firmly rejected Loeb's perspective.
“It looks like a comet. It does comet things. It very, very strongly resembles, in just about every way, the comets that we know,” Tom Statler, NASA’s lead scientist for solar system small bodies, told The Guardian.
Loeb has since acknowledged in a blog post that “the simplest hypothesis is that 3I/ATLAS is a comet,” clarifying that his goal was to challenge assumptions rather than make firm claims.
“Let us instead maintain our childhood curiosity and seek evidence rather than pretend to be the adults in the room that know the answers in advance,” he wrote.
Will we be able to see 3I/ATLAS?
The comet will reach its closest approach to the Sun around 30 October, coming within 1.4 au (about 130 million miles), just inside Mars’ orbit.
Its size and physical properties are still being studied, but NASA says it should become visible again through ground-based telescopes in early December, once it re-emerges from behind the Sun.
This story was updated on 30 October with NASA's confirmation that it is a comet.
Cities and towns around the world could be plunged underwater in just 275 years, a new study has warned.
Scientists from Sorbonne University in Paris predict that up to 59 per cent of Antarctica's ice shelves could collapse by 2300.
If this happens, it will result in up to 10 metres (32ft) of irreversible global sea–level rise.
Here in the UK, Hull, Glasgow, and Bristol would be submerged, while over in the US, people living in Houston, New Orleans, and Miami would be forced to move inland.
This might sound like something from the latest science fiction blockbuster.
However, the experts say it could become a reality if greenhouse gas emissions continue to skyrocket.
'Our results show that current choices to change emission pathways could significantly affect the likelihood of the long–term loss of most Antarctic ice shelves,' the researchers explained.
'The viability of ice shelves strongly depends on the emission scenario, as only one ice shelf becomes likely or very likely non–viable by 2300 in the low–emission scenario compared with 59% in the high–emission scenario.'
Scientists from Sorbonne University in Paris predict that up to 59 per cent of Antarctica's ice shelves could collapse by 2300
Cities and towns around the world could be plunged underwater in just 275 years, a new study has warned. Pictured: impression of London underwater
Antarctica is home to 15 major ice shelves and many smaller ones.
As the floating margins of the Antarctic ice sheet, these ice shelves are crucial for controlling ice loss.
'As they restrain the ice flow from the grounded ice sheet to the ocean through so–called buttressing, they represent a safety band around Antarctica,' the researchers, led by Clara Burgard, explained in their study, published in Nature.
'Their thinning and eventual collapse hence accelerates ice discharge into the ocean.'
In their study, the team conducted simulations to understand how the melting of 64 ice shelves could change as emissions continue to rise.
Their results revealed that, under a low–emissions scenario in which global warming is kept below 2°C by 2300, only one of the 64 ice shelves would be at risk.
However, under a high–emissions scenario, we face a bleak future.
The simulation found that if global warming reaches 12°C by 2300, 38 (59 per cent) of the ice shelves could disappear – contributing to 10 metres (32ft) of sea–level rise.
The simulation found that under a high-emissions scenario, by 2300, 38 (59 per cent) of the ice shelves could disappear – contributing to 10 metres (32ft) of sea–level rise
If sea levels do rise by 32ft (10 metres), entire cities around the world will be plunged underwater, according to Climate Central's Coastal Risk Screening Tool
And though 2300 feels quite far away, we'd begin feeling the impacts much sooner, according to the researchers.
'The period between approximately 2085 and 2170 marks the period with the highest rate of ice shelves that would reach likely non–viability,' they explained.
While this all feels quite dramatic, the researchers actually say that their estimate is 'conservative'.
'This estimate is on the most conservative side, and actual thinning, retreat or collapse could occur sooner depending on the vulnerability of a given ice shelf to other processes such as damage, rifting, hydrofracturing or calving,' they added.
If sea levels do rise by 32ft (10 metres), entire cities around the world will be plunged underwater, according to Climate Central's Coastal Risk Screening Tool.
In the UK, people living in Portsmouth, Southend-on-Sea, Hull, Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Bristol, and Cardiff will be submerged.
Huge swathes of London along the River Thames will also be underwater, including Hammersmith, Greenwich, Southwark, and Westminster.
In Europe, the entire coast from Calais in France to Ringkobing in Denmark will be underwater, while Venice, Montpellier, Seville, and Lisbon will also be impacted.
In the US, the entire coast of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas faces life underwater if sea levels rise by 32ft (10 metres)
Over in Asia, much of Bangladesh will be affected, along with cities like Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, and Karachi.
And in the US, the entire coast of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas faces life underwater.
Overall, the researchers hope the findings will highlight the need for urgent action to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
'Our results show that current choices to change emission pathways could significantly affect the likelihood of the long-term loss of most Antarctic ice shelves,' they concluded.
Global sea levels could rise as much as 10ft (3 metres) if the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica collapses.
Sea level rises threaten cities from Shanghai to London, to low-lying swathes of Florida or Bangladesh, and to entire nations such as the Maldives.
In the UK, for instance, a rise of 6.7ft (2 metres) or more may cause areas such as Hull, Peterborough, Portsmouth and parts of east London and the Thames Estuary at risk of becoming submerged.
The collapse of the glacier, which could begin with decades, could also submerge major cities such as New York and Sydney.
Parts of New Orleans, Houston and Miami in the south on the US would also be particularly hard hit.
A 2014 study looked by the union of concerned scientists looked at 52 sea level indicators in communities across the US.
It found tidal flooding will dramatically increase in many East and Gulf Coast locations, based on a conservative estimate of predicted sea level increases based on current data.
The results showed that most of these communities will experience a steep increase in the number and severity of tidal flooding events over the coming decades.
By 2030, more than half of the 52 communities studied are projected to experience, on average, at least 24 tidal floods per year in exposed areas, assuming moderate sea level rise projections. Twenty of these communities could see a tripling or more in tidal flooding events.
The mid-Atlantic coast is expected to see some of the greatest increases in flood frequency. Places such as Annapolis, Maryland and Washington, DC can expect more than 150 tidal floods a year, and several locations in New Jersey could see 80 tidal floods or more.
In the UK, a two metre (6.5 ft) rise by 2040 would see large parts of Kent almost completely submerged, according to the results of a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in November 2016.
Areas on the south coast like Portsmouth, as well as Cambridge and Peterborough would also be heavily affected.
Cities and towns around the Humber estuary, such as Hull, Scunthorpe and Grimsby would also experience intense flooding.
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