(OPINION) A colossal interstellar space rock that was originally known as "A11pl3Z" but has since been given the designation "3I/ATLAS" will be making a very alarming run through our solar system in September and October.

Based on their initial observations, scientists estimated that 3I/ATLAS has a diameter of approximately 20 kilometers, and that would make it larger than Manhattan.

But now scientists are telling us that it is probably at most 5.6 kilometers wide. Even if it is only about 5 kilometers wide, we are still talking about an extinction-level event if it were to hit us.

Over the next couple of months, 3I/ATLAS will be zipping through our solar system at a speed of about 130,000 miles per hour, and scientists assure us that the gravity of the sun cannot significantly alter the trajectory of anything moving that fast. But what if they are wrong?

As you will see below, 3I/ATLAS is supposed to fly past Mars at a distance of just 0.19 AU on October 3rd.

That is even closer than astronomers were originally projecting, and that is making some people nervous.

Hopefully the experts are correct and there is no threat of collision, because if this thing actually hit Mars it would be a cataclysm unlike anything that any of us have ever seen.

According to Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, it appears that 3I/ATLAS may actually be emitting its own light...

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS -- which is zooming through our inner solar system -- appears to be emitting its own light, according to Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb.

The observation by Loeb, if verified, would contradict NASA's classification of the Manhattan-size object as a comet, the scientist argues in a new blog post.

Obviously, more observations will have to be done in order to confirm this.

But there are essentially two options.

If this theory is not true and 3I/ATLAS is not emitting its own light, Loeb says that this giant space rock is probably about 12 miles long...

If 3I/ATLAS were reflecting light, it would mean the object was 12 miles long, which is improbable, according to the astrophysicist.

I cannot even imagine an object that is 12 miles long and that is traveling at 130,000 miles per hour.

Can you?

The second option is that 3I/ATLAS is emitting its own light, and that would be even more ominous, because Loeb believes that 3I/ATLAS could potentially be "a spacecraft powered by nuclear energy"...

Loeb speculated that the nucleus of the object could in fact be nuclear -- and possibly an engine crafted by an alien people.

"A natural nuclear source could be a rare fragment from the core of a nearby supernova that is rich in radioactive material. This possibility is highly unlikely, given the scarce reservoir of radioactive elements in interstellar space," Loeb wrote.

"Alternatively, 3I/ATLAS could be a spacecraft powered by nuclear energy, and the dust emitted from its frontal surface might be from dirt that accumulated on its surface during its interstellar travel," Loeb conjectured, adding, "This cannot be ruled out, but requires better evidence to be viable." READ MORE