Elon Musk recently discussed the fascinating interstellar object passing through our solar system, which a Harvard astrophysicist suggested might be an alien probe on a mission to observe Earth.
This Manhattan-sized interstellar comet, referred to as Comet 3I/ATLAS, was first identified in July and has been behaving in a manner unlike anything previously observed by scientists.
During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, the Tesla CEO had an unusual reaction when asked if he was following the developments regarding the comet.
“I mean, one thing I can say is like, look, if I was aware of any evidence of aliens – Joe, you have my word – I will come on your show and I will reveal it on the show,” said Musk, who also spearheads SpaceX.
Musk then emphatically stated that he would never end his own life, addressing the conspiracy theory that humans may have contacted aliens in the past, but the information has been suppressed.
He elaborated: “I’m never committing suicide, to be clear. So, on camera, guys, I am never committing suicide ever!”
Joe Rogan described the comet as ‘fascinating,’ particularly because nickel was discovered in its gas cloud.
“The only way that exists, uh, here is, uh, industrial alloys apparently,” noted Rogan, a former UFC fighter.
Musk added: “There are there are definitely comets and asteroids that are made primarily of nickel.
“So the the places where you mine nickel on Earth is actually where there was an asteroid or comet that hit earth – that was a nickel rich meteorite.”
He explained that these collisions resulted in deposits rich in nickel.
“Those are from impacts – you definitely didn’t want to be there at the time because anything would have been obliterated. But that’s that’s where the the sources of nickel and cobalt are these days,” Musk pointed out.
Rogan then read a quote from Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb: “It’s mostly nickel – very little iron, which he was saying on earth only exists in alloys.”
Musk commented: “It would be a very sort of heavy spaceship if you make it all out of nickel. Yeah, that’s a heavy spaceship.
“It would like obliterate a continent type of thing – maybe worse.”
Avi Loeb had earlier told the New York Post about the interstellar object, suggesting intriguingly, “It could indicate that it was an alien probe sent to do recon on Earth.”