A rare visitor from beyond our solar system has reignited both scientific curiosity and public fear with confusing claims about its trajectory and nature. International astronomical data have confirmed interstellar object 3I/ATLAS to be the third interstellar body ever observed passing through our celestial neighbourhood, following 'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.
Its path is hyperbolic, meaning it came from outside the solar system and will soon leave, never to return. There is no credible scientific evidence that it is on a return course toward Earth, despite online speculation to the contrary. As 3I/ATLAS continues its one-time flyby, here is the factual, evidence-based account of what scientists know.
