This image is traveling around the Internet faster than a cat with a mustache. The European Space Agency released an image of Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko, Comet 67P for short, taken by the Rosetta space probe as it gets closer to its landing on the surface in November. Do you see what lot of people are seeing and no one at ESA or NASA is confirming? Is that a UFO on the surface of Comet 67P?

Rosetta was launched on March 2, 2004 and made its initial rendezvous on August 6, 2014. On September 15, ESA announced that the landing site for Rosetta’s Philae probe will be “Site J” on the so-called head of the comet.

The photo of the possible UFO was released with a batch of other images on September 10. At the time, Rosetta was approximately 27.8 km from Comet 67P. The object appears to be metallic and quite different from a rock next to it. The rock appears darker while the object is reflecting brightly even though both appear to be at the same angle to the sun. The shadow of the object matches its size and angle but it appears longer than that of the rock because the slope of the ground behind it is different.

This video is labeled “UFO Flies Near Comet 67P Churyumov Gerasimenko” but there doesn’t appear to be anything flying other than Rosetta.

The high resolution images of Comet 67P being taken by Rosetta are truly amazing, so there’s some hope that better shots of the alleged UFO will surface. On the other hand, maybe ESA and NASA don’t want anyone to see the object.

Is it a UFO? If not, what’s a metallic object doing on a comet? Does it have anything to do with why Comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko was selected for the landing?

Questions, questions, questions …