A UFO enthusiast claims to have found the wreckage of an alien spaceship in Antarctica.

Using Google Earth, he zoomed in on a dark area and says that the shape is a clear sign that it is a crashed UFO.

However, an expert has told MailOnline that it is just a shadow caused by a crevasse, while the blue tinge is bare ice.

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Valentin Degterev from Russia claims to have found a UFO. He located it using Google Earth and says it is 'from the distant cosmos'. The elliptical object (shown) is 65ft (20 metres) wide and 230ft (70 metres) long. However it appears to be most likely just a shadow or a fissure

The image was revealed by self-proclaimed ‘researcher of the unknown’ Valentin Degterev from the city of Nizhny Tagil in central Russia.

The satellite image was taken back in 15 February 2012, but Mr Degterev has now published it online and it has quickly gone viral on Russian social media website VK.

‘I think there is very large disc-shaped flying machine among the frozen ice,’ he claimed.

Anyone can view the object by inputting the coordinates 80°34'08.4"S 30°05'19.3"W into Google Maps.

‘I found the unique object using the online service of Google Earth in Antarctica,’ said Mr Degterev.

‘In amongst the endless ice desert, it is the most genuine UFO in its most classic shape.’

Tellingly, the object of interest is among many other cliffs and shadows, and doesn't particularly look like anything out of this world.

The shape was found in Antarctica, shown in this image. The satellite image was actually taken back in 15 February 2012, but has Mr Degterev has only now published it online, and it has quickly gone viral on his VK page - a popular Russian social media website

Mr Degterev, however, is adamant the hole - which measures about 65ft (20 metres) wide and 230ft (70 metres) long - cannot be explained by anything from this planet.

‘I do not presume to know exactly what it is,’ he said.

But Andrew Fleming from the British Antarctic Survey, told MailOnline that the object was quite clearly simply a crevasse in the ground.

'A crevasse is a lot of ice formed by differential movement of the ice,' he said.

'They can be tens of metres deep. It's one large slot, nothing unusual, but they are spectacular. It's certainly not a UFO, though.'

He warned that crevasses can be quite dangerous and joked: 'I'd much rather come across a UFO than deal with these things!'

He added that the dark area was likely to be a shadow, while the slight blue tinge was bare ice - which is ice without snow cover.

Mr Degterev is adamant the hole - which measures about 65ft (20 metres) wide and 230ft (70 metres) long - cannot be explained by anything from this planet. ‘In amongst the endless ice desert, it is the most genuine UFO in its most classic shape,' he said

Andrew Fleming from the British Antarctic Survey, however, told MailOnline that the object (in the middle of the image) was quite clearly a crevasse in the ground. 'A crevasse is a lot of ice formed by differential movement of the ice,' he said. The dark area is caused by a shadow, and the light blue tinge is ice without snow on top

But Mr Degterev doesn't agree. He said: ‘It is definitely not a polar station, nor a plane (as there aren't any airplanes or helicopters this big in the world).

‘There also aren't any ships lost in Antarctica.

‘It seems this is a man-made object from the distant cosmos.’

On his Live Journal page, Mr Degterev went further and said the object had a metal body and was definitely not made of rock or stone.

Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, said: ‘It’s hard to tell if this a “classic” saucer sticking out of the ice, or whether it is a break in the ice.

‘Antarctica has a long tradition of being the resting place of crashed saucers or a base for their operations.’