1996 PW is a small Solar System body on an orbit typical of long-period comets but that has shown no sign of cometary activity around the time it was discovered. Simulations indicate that it has most likely come from the Oort cloud, with a roughly equal probability of being an extinct comet and a rocky body that was originally scattered into the Oort cloud. The discovery of 1996 PW prompted theoretical research that suggests that roughly 1 to 2 percent of the Oort cloud objects are rocky.