False robot alien spider story is invading social media

Claim:

Scientists discovered alien robotic spiders from interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on Earth’s polar ice caps in October 2025.

Rating:

In October 2025, an (archived) Facebook post about an unusual discovery spread across the platform. According to the post, scientists have discovered robotic micro-spiders from Comet 3I/ATLAS in Antarctica. The spiders, which apparently broke away from the comet “during its closest pass to our planet”, were supposed to collect data on the ice and transmit it to space.

The post was reshared by other Facebook pages (archived) shortly after its initial publication. Some people emailed Snopes to ask if this claim was true or searched the website to discover the same thing.

There was no evidence to support the details of the story shared in the messages. Therefore, we consider this statement to be false.

Snopes searched “3I/ATLAS spider robots” on Google, DuckDuckGo, Bing and Yahoo. There were no results outside of social media posts related to the claim on search engines. If this story, which the Facebook post describes as “sending global shockwaves,” were real, major media outlets would have covered it and there would likely be some sort of scientific publication or update about it.

In fact, the details of the story just don’t add up.

The Facebook post says scientists have proposed that the spiders “detached” from the comet during its closest pass to Earth, but that has not yet happened. 3I/ATLAS’s closest approach to Earth won’t take place until December 19, 2025, according to the European Space Agency. An animation produced by NASA showed that the Sun was partially or completely between Earth and 3I/ATLAS for most of the time since the comet’s discovery.

The image attached to the story wasn’t real either. Although the location was described as Antarctica, the Northern Lights – which do not appear around the South Pole – could be seen in the upper left sky. Additionally, the “spiders” in the image had varying numbers of legs and the inset image of the “spider” differed from the spiders seen in the larger image. These inconsistencies suggest that the image was likely generated by AI.

Space Lane, the page that published the story, frequently posts fabricated stories suggesting contact or discovery of extraterrestrial life. Many of these articles refer to 3I/ATLAS, a comet originating from outside the solar system and discovered in 2025.

Snopes previously fact-checked a claim that 3I/ATLAS was “most likely” an alien ship heading toward Earth.

Sources:

“Comet 3I/ATLAS – Frequently Asked Questions.” Esa.intEuropean Space Agency, www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Comet_3I_ATLAS_frequently_asked_questions. Accessed October 29, 2025.

“Robot Spiders 3I/Atlas – Bing.” Bingwww.bing.com/search?q=robot+spiders+3I%2Fatlas&form=QBLH&sp=-1&lq=0&pq=robot+spiders+3i%2Fatlas&sc=0-22&qs=n&sk=&cvid=55501FB40E3B4965B2FEE68065DF26B0. Accessed October 29, 2025.

“Robot Spiders 3I/Atlas – Search DuckDuckGo.” Duckduckgo.comduckduckgo.com/?origin=funnel_home_website&t=h_&q=robot+spiders+3I%2Fatlas&ia=web. Accessed October 29, 2025.

“Robot Spiders 3I/Atlas – Google Search.” Google.comwww.google.com/search?q=robot+spiders+3I%2Fatlas&sca_esv=ef29957d23e94eec&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A%2Ccd_max%3A10%2F29%2F2025&tbm=. Accessed October 29, 2025.

“Robot Spiders 3I/Atlas – Yahoo Search Results.” Yahoo.comsearch.yahoo.com/search?p=robot+spiders+3I%2Fatlas&fr=yfp-t&fr2=p%3Afp%2Cm%3Asb&fp=1. Accessed October 29, 2025.

Wasser, Molly. “Comet 3I/ATLAS.” NASA ScienceJuly 3, 2025, science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/3i-atlas/. Accessed October 29, 2025.