Curiosity, the car-sized robotic rover exploring Gale Crater on Mars as a part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, which was on its way to Mount Sharp came across an interesting anomaly, giving rise to speculations of a UFO sighting. But what is more interesting is the fact that the anomaly or the flying object was visible for almost ten minutes, before it disappeared.

The flying object in the pictures looks like a straight long cigar. The incident as per the NASA archives was recorded on 14 April and the time of sighting has been listed as 4:48:22 until 04:56:09 UTC. Scott Waring of UFO Sightings Daily noticed the pictures in the archives dispatched by Curiosity Rover.

"The object was in the sky in front of the rover for 10 minutes! Also notice that most the stars do not move, but do lighten and dim during this time. The shape of the UFO is just as we see it, long cigar shaped. At first a person will assume the exposure (shutter) was open allowing the photo to record for a few seconds, but no. The shutter speed is normal. This object was moving slow, which is proven by the time stamps on the photos on the NASA site. Ten minutes in plain view," noted Waring in an online video.

"Then again, could this be a moon or micro moon orbiting Mars? Yes, it would be possible; however a moon of this shape would have a high probability of flipping end over end. This object has slow, balanced movement like a ship in water. I am very interested in how NASA will explain this one," he added. Scotting Waring has even written to NASA to explain this anomaly, but is yet to get a reply.

Earlier in April, speculations were rife after photographs from Curiosity showed a bright, shining light on Mars, seen at a distance. It was believed that the light emanating from the planet surface was from an artificial source, which implied that there could be an intelligent life existent in Mars.

Curiosity Cam recording Timeline/NASA
Curiosity Cam recording Timeline/NASA

UFO Sighting Timeline

  • 1st photo: 04:48:22 UFO firsts appears, and is heading down.
  • 2nd photo: 04:50:18
  • 3rd photo: 04:52:15
  • 4th photo: 04:54:12
  • 5th photo: 04:56:09
  • 6th photo: 04:58:06 Object is gone.

(ED:AJ)