Scientists have announced the date to expect a "mysterious" comet (4 photos + 2 videos)
The weekend is coming to an end. So why don't we discuss a fascinating theory about the mysterious comet, whose arrival scientists predict for mid-December. 
Remember December 21, 2012, when the Mayan calendar supposedly predicted the end of the world? People stocked up on buckwheat, built bunkers, and someone even sold their dacha to catch the last flight to Goa. The result: nothing but a hangover and awkward explanations with the bank.
It seems like just yesterday, but a lifetime has already passed. But don't lose heart, old timers! We still have a chance: 3I/ATLAS will be visiting us this December. Well, not exactly visiting us, just missing us, but still... 
3I/ATLAS is a true interstellar comet, the third in history after 'Oumuamua and Borisov. It was discovered on July 1, 2025, by the ATLAS telescope in Chile (the Asteroid Hazard Search System).
Nucleus size: 440 meters to 5.6 kilometers.
Speed: 60 kilometers per second, twice as fast as Earth orbits.
On October 3rd, it passed Mars at a distance of 28 million kilometers, and on October 30th, it passed perihelion—its closest point to the Sun, inside Mars' orbit. It's currently hiding behind the Sun, but will return to view in early December. Peak brightness is expected in December; it should be visible even with an amateur telescope with an 8-inch objective.
December 19th, 2025—the day of closest approach to Earth. The distance will be approximately 270 million kilometers; believe me, that's very far. There's no threat; NASA and ESA are calm: "It'll fly by and be gone forever." But people are already joking on social media: "When I ordered delivery from AliExpress, and a whole shipload of nickel arrived." The comet's reddish hue is due to organic matter and thiolins, and its nickel composition is similar to that of asteroids.
Elon Musk joked on Joe Rogan's podcast: "Maybe it's a probe. But if it's aliens, they're obviously guaranteed; they've been flying for millions of years." He promised that as soon as he discovers any evidence of aliens' existence, he'll share it with anyone who wants to know.
On the American forums Reddit and X, Comet 3I/ATLAS has been declared an alien fleet: photos of the rover are interpreted as a swarm of probes, and Harvard's Avi Loeb is quoted as saying that the "techno-artifact" has a 40% chance of being a "techno-artifact" due to its ideal orbit and nickel content, similar to that found in engine alloys.
Astronomer Avi Loeb claims that object 3I/Atlas just performed an incredible maneuver, actively slowing down using the Sun's gravitational field.
They also joke that if this is a hostile ship, the aliens are clearly billions of years too late and are now parking behind the Sun, waiting for a signal from Elon Musk, and the anti-solar tail is braking before landing in Nevada.
And back to work tomorrow.
