Ever since astronomers first detected interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in July, speculation about its true nature has run wild. Some experts speculate it isn’t a comet at all but rather an extraterrestrial spacecraft sent to sniff around our solar system.

New evidence has dumped cold water on this provocative hypothesis. MeerKAT, a radio telescope operated by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, recently detected a radio signal from 3I/ATLAS. Before you get excited, this isn’t a technological radio signal used for transmission. It’s a natural radio emission and some of the strongest evidence yet that 3I/ATLAS is a naturally occurring comet.

The astronomers who identified the signal posted a brief description of their findings on The Astronomer’s Telegram , a website where rese

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