An image of a bizarre descending light heading to the surface of Mars might be exciting enough for UFO enthusiasts. But two pictures might just be cause for some extra speculation.
Two real pictures, taken by the Curiosity rover, a car-sized robotic rover exploring Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, have captured an odd-looking light allegedly moving towards Mars on June 20, according to information on the raw Jet Propulsion Laboratory images.
In the first JPL full resolution image, a bright light appears above some mountains (taken by the rover's Navcam Right camera). Thirty-one seconds later, the rover's Navcam Left camera snapped an image of the light seemingly closer to the Martian surface, Huffington Post reported.
So are we looking at pictures of a UFO headed for a landing near the Curiosity rover? Most probably not, claims Justin Maki, leader of the team that built and operates Curiosity's navigation camera. "This is a hot pixel that has been around since we started using the Right Navcam," Maki told The Huffington Post in an email.
Hot pixels happen when a camera's sensor becomes hot during long exposures, as described by PhotographyLife.com.
However, Curiosity camera has known to capture images of something very bright in the distance at Red Plant in the past as well. On April 3, the rover photographed an unusual-looking light shining brightly on the surface of Mars.
"In the thousands of images we've received from Curiosity, we see ones with bright spots nearly every week," Maki said in a NASA statement. "These can be caused by cosmic-ray hits or sunlight glinting from rock surfaces, as the most likely explanations."
Incidents involving speculations about UFO's seem to keep on garnering attention worldwide. On May 20, three "circular, metallic, objects" crashed into a Chinese village, with the wreckage still deemed to be a mystery. Following the incident, village residents reported witnessing more unidentified flying objects in the sky.
