Over the years there has been footage posted online purportedly showing UFOs putting in an appearance in areas where there were earthquakes; the objects remain a mystery and their origins unconfirmed.

A former US Marine has claimed many UFO sightings are connected to mega-earthquakes and other natural disasters in an interview for the Daily Star.

Nick Karnaze is part of an investigation team tasked with collecting evidence to prove that aliens have been in contact with Earth.

As part of his findings for the Discovery channel programme Contact, the former US Marine, who served in Afghanistan as an Intel Officer, revealed how he hit upon a distinct correlation pattern between UFO sightings and natural disasters.

"We’re seeing a lot of sightings connected to earthquakes, which is very interesting. Sarah [Cruddas] and I were looking at a lot of sightings around a series of earthquakes, relatively large for the area too. And I know that a team in South America were also looking into similar patterns."

However, he added:

“There are a few possible explanations but nothing is really jumping out as definitive to say “this is what's causing it, and this is why”.

Earlier, the ex-marine commented on multiple UFO sightings near military facilities, as pictures and videos of unidentified snake-like objects in the skies across the US and beyond recently flooded social media, with speculation rife that the sightings could be harbingers of a "real alien invasion".

Karnaze shared his theory with UK media, saying:

“There are some other clusters of sightings that we’re seeing in areas that relate to military facilities. We see these clusters off the coast of California. Very unusual. And also some off the Eastern seaboard here in the US.”

Nick claimed the objects were something "beyond a classified military programme".

Over the years clips have appeared online supposedly showing UFOs hovering in the vicinity of earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Locations just recently hit by an earthquake were purportedly shown to attract multiple UFOs in one video online, while another went so far as to suggest a UFO may actually be the cause of the natural calamity.

The objects remain shrouded in mystery, their origins unconfirmed, as they feed into the widespread conspiracy theories and speculations that fire the imagination of experts and laymen alike.