SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has also dived into the debate about Manhattan-sized interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS, visiting our solar system.
Astronomers and space enthusiasts are equally intrigued by the mysterious behaviour of the interstellar visitor as it was expected to reach its closest approach to the Sun last Thursday.
Now, Musk has also jumped on the bandwagon, in favour of the theory presented by Harvard Astrophysicist Dr Avi Loeb.
In conversation with Joe Rogan for his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Musk said that it is possible that 3I/ATLAS could be an “alien” spacecraft because it appeared to be influenced by forces beyond gravity..
For context, humanity's third ever recorded inter-stellar visitor reverse thrust and vanish beyond the Sun, blinding the Earth’s telescopes.
The tech billionaire was unsure of 3I/ATLAS’s alien origins. However, he was sure that since it is made of entirely nickel and has massive size, it could obliterate a continent or maybe worse.
Musk recalled the “ five major extinction events” on Earth while the host said that it would be a real problem if it hits, adding, “Probably kill most of the human life.”
SpaceX CEO said that that fossil record only shows the event that had the capability to cause mass extinction throughout Earth, adding, there could have been many events where life across different continents could have been destroyed but it did not show up on fossil records.
NASA has already assured that the comet does not possess any danger to the Earth but it has also secretly activated the planetary defense mechanisms.
