The interstellar object, known as 3I/ATLAS, was found on July 1 hurtling at over 130,000 mph towards the sun, according to Live Science. It was verified as an interstellar object less than twenty-four hours later, although first observations indicated that it might be a comet, larger than Manhattan, with a diameter of up to fifteen miles.

The three researchers, however, hypothesised in the new report that it might be a disguised piece of alien spy gear.

Avi Loeb, a well-known Harvard astrophysicist who has made connections between extraterrestrial objects and extraterrestrial life, was one of the researchers who made headlines earlier when he proposed that the 2017 interstellar object ʻOumuamua might be an artificial recon probe sent by an alien civilisation due to its peculiar shape and acceleration.

Working with Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl of the Initiative