Images of what appeared to show a light source on the surface of Mars, exciting UFO believers as a possible sign of intelligent extraterrestrial life have been explained by Nasa.
The pictures were taken on 3 April by Nasa’s Curiosity rover’s right-hand navcam, and appeared to show a light source in the distance pointing towards the Martian sky.
However, imaging expert Doug Ellison of JPL, Nasa’s robotic exploration wing and Dr Chris Bridges both independently explained the photograph as showing a galactic cosmic ray hitting the imager.
@b0yle It's not in the left-Navcam image taken at the exact same moment. It's a cosmic ray hit. http://t.co/7Ea94jIhD9
— Doug Ellison (@doug_ellison) April 8, 2014
@b0yle @AstroKatie @MarsCuriosity Most likely a galactic cosmic ray (GCR) hitting the imager.
— Dr Chris Bridges (@DrChrisBridges) April 8, 2014
1 Comment
it’s swamp gas