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In late September 2024, users on various social media sites including X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and TikTok posted claims that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) had likely just discovered extraterrestrial life.

According to these posts, JWST spotted a large object about 10 light-years away from Earth that was moving toward the planet. The posts claimed that the object had to be some sort of alien spaceship because JWST had observed the object change its trajectory in an unnatural manner.

Snopes received several emails from readers asking us to fact-check the claim. We found that no evidence that JWST had detected such an object, making the claim unfounded and likely false.

The earliest reference to the rumor we could find was from a Sept. 17, 2024, YouTube video explaining the supposed discovery. The channel that uploaded the video, called Psicoactivo Podcast, produces daily content about UFOs and other supposed signs of alien life. According to the video, members of Congress were receiving briefings on a "discovery" from JWST that the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Department of Defense were also investigating. The information presented to members of Congress about this supposed object was apparently not classified, but it had not been made public. The video explicitly did not name its source.

In the following days, other UFO and alien content creators began discussing the rumor. On Sept. 21, 2024, Ask a Pol, a Washington, D.C.-based, press corps that asks politicians questions submitted by users on social media, spoke with U.S. Rep. Andre Carson about the supposed JWST briefing. Carson chaired a 2022 open congressional hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), the official term the U.S. government uses when discussing what the public generally calls a UFO. Carson did not comment, leading some users online to point out that his response would be more consistent if such a briefing was about classified information.

However, as one commenter pointed out, "No comment is not confirmation that it happened."

In the coming weeks, the rumor spiraled out of control on social media, where it was often treated as fact. However, there has been no evidence beyond the rumor that the object has been detected by JWST, or that it exists in the first place.聽

We found no information on the supposed finding from NASA or other space agencies, nor from any branch of Congress. While it is possible that these agencies are waiting on more data before officially making an announcement, the lack of any information from anywhere other than an unconfirmed rumor from an anonymous source led us to conclude that the claim is unfounded.聽

- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/live/zZ7xwyiu8XE. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

---. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U13h53taWG8. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

---. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFKmcqcBbnw. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

"2030's Alien Arrival: James Webb Finds Massive UFO." Spreaker, https://www.spreaker.com/episode/2030-s-alien-arrival-james-webb-finds-massive-ufo--62099609. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

Freeman, David. "Has the James Webb Telescope Discovered a Universe-Altering Secret?" Above The Norm News, 22 Sept. 2024, https://www.abovethenormnews.com/2024/09/22/has-the-james-webb-telescope-discovered-a-universe-altering-secret/.

Laslo, Matt. About - Ask a Pol UAPs. https://www.askapol.com/about. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

---. "No Comment," Rep. Carson Refuses to Say If He's Been in a James Webb Space Telescope Briefing. 1 Oct. 2024, https://www.askapol.com/p/no-comment-rep-carson-james-webb-space-telescope-briefing.

published, Charles Q. Choi. "Mysterious Radio Signal from Proxima Centauri Was Definitely Not Aliens." Space.Com, 26 Oct. 2021, https://www.space.com/proxima-centauri-radio-signal-not-aliens-breakthrough-listen.

Representative Carson on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Report | Congressman Andre Carson. 13 Jan. 2023, http://carson.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/representative-carson-on-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-uap-report.

Science Overview - NASA Science. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/science-overview/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

This story was corrected to reflect the fact that Rep. Andre Carson chaired an open congressional hearing on UAPs in 2022, not 2023.

Jack Izzo is a Chicago-based journalist and two-time "Jeopardy!" alumnus.