Gangtok, July 27 -- A new study has ignited both scientific curiosity and widespread concern by postulating that a recently discovered interstellar object, designated 3I/ATLAS, could be an extraterrestrial surveillance craft. The controversial paper, published on July 16 on the arXiv preprint server, suggests the object's trajectory toward the Sun later this year could pose a significant, albeit theoretical, risk to humanity.

"The consequences, should the hypothesis turn out to be correct, could potentially be dire for humanity," the authors cautioned in their non-peer-reviewed analysis.

The Enigma of 3I/ATLAS

Discovered on July 1 and confirmed as an interstellar object within 24 hours, 3I/ATLAS is hurtling through our solar system at...