Is this a spaceman, or just a rogue shadow? (Picture: NASA)

UFO experts have sensationally claimed that this photo, which they say shows a human engineer working on the Mars Curiosity Rover, could be proof of life on the Red Planet.

Researchers believe that the photograph, which is one of a set of Curiosity rover Navcam pictures, shows a shadow of a human-like being – complete with spacesuit and air tank – working on the probe, which was launched in 2011.

Interestingly, he does not appear to be wearing a helmet as his short hair is visible. Other photographs in the same set do not show the human figure.

Conspiracy theorists have previously expressed their belief that Mars is the ‘off-world’ base of the Pentagon’s ‘Non-Terrestrial Officers’.




The claims are also supported by classified documents reportedly obtained by Gary McKinnon, a hacker who faced extradition to the United States after committing the ‘biggest military computer hack of all time’ in 2002.

This picture might be a slighter darker shadow, but a human-like figure is still visible (Picture: NASA)

Speaking to Wired Magazine, McKinnon previously claimed that he had discovered files that supported the existence of 30 ‘non-extra-terrestrial officers’.

He said: ‘I also got access to Excel spreadsheets. One was titled ‘Non-Terrestrial Officers. It contained names and ranks of U.S. Air Force personnel who are not registered anywhere else.

‘It also contained information about ship-to-ship transfers, but I’ve never seen the names of these ships noted anywhere else.’

Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, has said that the new photographs support the story of ‘Jackie’ a former NASA worker, who spoke of seeing men in space suits walking to the Viking Explorer, a mission to Mars launched in the 1970s.

He said: ‘This new image is more incredible because the human doesn’t appear to be wearing a helmet – not a good idea on the surface of Mars.

‘Conspiracy theorists will say that Mars is far more habitable for human life than scientists say and is part of the cover-up to stop us knowing that there are bases on Mars and elsewhere in the Solar System.

‘I think it is a case of “seeing” what we want to see, to confirm our expectations and hopes. This underlines the fact that such things literally lurk in the shadows and play with our imagination.’

Earlier this month, eagle-eyed conspiracy theorists spotted a UFO floating near the International Space Station during an evacuation of the craft, fuelling rumours that extra-terrestrials could possibly be working in league with NASA.