A mysterious object once believed to be a simple space rock passing Earth is accelerating, and scientists cannot explain why.
A new study by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has determined that 1998 KY26, a suspected near-Earth asteroid, is speeding up in a way that the gravity of the sun and planets cannot account for.
Simply put, the alleged space rock has something else powering it as it moves around our solar system.
Near-Earth objects are rocky space bodies that orbit the sun and sometimes come relatively close to Earth. This object is roughly 36 feet in length, about the size of a school bus, and spins once every 5.35 minutes – extremely fast for a space rock.
Although it is about 189million miles from Earth right now, its current course is taking it within 32million miles of our planet in 2028. The European Space Agency said the object's orbit will take it even closer in 2039, coming within 10million miles.
While 1998 KY26 is widely believed to be a relatively tiny rock, its unexplainable increase in speed has led one scientist to claim the mystery object is actually a long-lost spacecraft that disappeared four decades ago.
To read more, click here.