Is this an alien spaceship on Mars or NASA debris? Curiosity rover spots a mystery object on the red planet sending conspiracy theorists into a spin

  • The image was taken in March, but has now been posted in a Reddit thread 
  • One user suggests that it shows 'light glimmering off of a genuine spaceship'
  • But others claim that it is simply the rover's own entry debris

By Shivali Best For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Nasa's Curiosity rover has snapped a photo of a mysterious object on the surface of Mars, which conspiracy theorists believe could be evidence of aliens.

The high-definition image appears to show the object glinting against Mars' rocky landscape.

While many people believe that the object is made by aliens, others have suggested that it is merely the rover's own entry debris.

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Nasa's Curiosity rover has snapped a photo of a mysterious object on the surface of Mars, which conspiracy theorists believe could be evidence of aliens

Nasa's Curiosity rover has snapped a photo of a mysterious object on the surface of Mars, which conspiracy theorists believe could be evidence of aliens

CURIOSITY ROVER 

Curiosity's top speed is 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) per second.

It's the fourth rover to visit Mars, and took around seven minutes to land on the red planet.

The rover is fitted with 17 cameras, and weighs about the same as a Mini Cooper at about 2,000lb (900kg).

Scientists considered 60 different possible landing sites before deciding to set Curiosity down in Gale Crater. 

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The image was taken in March, but was posted on Reddit this week, sparking a huge online debate about what it shows.

Prosaic Origin, the Reddit user who posted the image, wrote: 'Uh Nasa? UFO caught on Mars Rover mission? Is this real?'

His post has received 79 replies, many of which back up his thoughts that it could be aliens.

EdisonVonneZula said: 'Looks like light glimmering off of a genuine spaceship on an alien planet in outer space.'

And Crazylegs99 wrote: 'They forgot to Photoshop that one out. Love how skeptical the mods are. 

'You could have aliens waving hi through the windshield and it would be flagged as a likely prosaic.'

But not everyone is convinced.

OnceReturned suggested the image could merely show debris from the rover's landing craft.

The high-definition image appears to show the object glinting against Mars' rocky landscape. While many people believe that the object is made by aliens, others have suggested that it is merely the rover's own entry debris

The high-definition image appears to show the object glinting against Mars' rocky landscape. While many people believe that the object is made by aliens, others have suggested that it is merely the rover's own entry debris

WHY WE SEE STRANGE THINGS ON MARS

Pareidolia is the psychological response to seeing faces and other significant and everyday items in random stimulus.

It is a form of apophenia, when people see patterns in random, unconnected data.

There have been multiple occasions when people have claimed to see religious images and themes in unexpected places.

On the red planet, one of the most famous is the 'face on Mars' spotted by one of the Viking orbiters in 1976.

This was later proven to just be a chance alignment of sand dunes.

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The user wrote: 'We know that the Rover was taking pictures of its own entry debris at that time.

'There's nothing particularly alien about the object in question – it could easily be entry debris, at least in my opinion.'

And Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual told MailOnline: 'It might look like a spaceship, but as usual the picture is out-of-focus and there is no guide to tell the viewer how big or small this object is.  

'One explanation is that the object is a piece of debris from the Mars Rover itself or from its sky crane landing system. 

'Unless we get more detailed information this is another case of wishful thinking.'

This isn't the first time that conspiracy theorists have claimed that images taken by the Curiosity rover show aliens.

Yesterday, alien hunters claimed that the rover had taken images of thigh bones protruding from the red planet's surface.

The pictures were presented in a video from conspiracy theorist group Martian Archaeology alongside several other Curiosity images that appear to show 'signs of life'.

This isn't the first time that conspiracy theorists have claimed that images taken by the Curiosity rover show aliens. Yesterday, alien hunters claimed that the rover had taken images of thigh bones protruding from the red planet's surface

This isn't the first time that conspiracy theorists have claimed that images taken by the Curiosity rover show aliens. Yesterday, alien hunters claimed that the rover had taken images of thigh bones protruding from the red planet's surface

These include reported signs of lichen and fungi and other biological life growing on Mars.

Fans of the video have posted their views in the comment section.

TJ Devereaux wrote: 'After years of research and study, I'm convinced now, more then ever, that there much more to Mars then what Nasa admits to.

'I'm certain life, including water, and intelligent life forms, once occupied the planet, and... big leap here... that both still exist, in much smaller quantities.'

 

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