It's not every day that Elon Musk raises the possibility of aliens on a mainstream podcast -- but 3I/ATLAS has everyone looking up. The mysterious interstellar object, roughly the size of Manhattan and made mostly of nickel, has sparked intense debate among scientists and conspiracy theorists alike. Now, even Musk is wondering if this cosmic visitor might be more than just another comet.
During a recent episode of 'The Joe Rogan Experience,' the billionaire SpaceX founder mused about the strange behavior of 3I/ATLAS -- including its unusual maneuvering near planets like Jupiter, Venus, and Mars. Though he admitted uncertainty, Musk didn't rule out the unthinkable: 3I/ATLAS could be "aliens," since "something beyond gravity is affecting the comet's trajectory."
NASA has long reassured the public that 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth. Still, Musk's tone hinted at unease. He noted that with its massive size and nickel composition, it has the potential to "obliterate a continent... maybe worse." When Rogan suggested that a collision could "probably kill most of human life," Musk didn't exactly disagree. "It depends on what the total mass is," he said, segueing into a grim reminder that Earth's history is littered with catastrophic impacts -- most of which, he pointed out, never even make it into the fossil record.
Adding a darker edge to the conversation, Musk laughed as he declared, "I am never committing suicide, to be clear. On the camera, guys, I will never commit suicide. Ever." The comment, delivered half-jokingly, still left Rogan's audience with an eerie chill.
Musk also took a jab at the comet's name, saying, "It's a hell of a name. It sounds like 'Third Eye' or something." When Rogan mentioned Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb's recent claim that the object's non-gravitational acceleration might be the technological signature of an internal engine, Musk seemed intrigued. He mused about the idea of nickel-rich space objects, adding, "Yeah, it doesn't mean it'll be a very sort of heavy spaceship to make it all out of nickel."
Loeb's theory -- that the comet's shimmering blue hue and erratic movement could be signs of technology, not nature -- has already sent social media into meltdown. Now Musk -- the man behind rockets, Mars missions, and memes -- is hinting at aliens, the question lingers like static in deep space:
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