Could It Be a Tinfoil Hat? Online Alien Hunters Freak Over Shiny Mars Metal

NASA’s Curiosity rover, currently transiting the arid surface of the Red Planet, has snapped a photo of something odd, and the internet is aflame with speculation.

The image, taken in March and only recently posted to a Reddit thread, shows a curious, unidentifiable object apparently reflecting sunlight into the Rover's camera lens, according to a report from the Daily Mail.

The one-ton NASA rover, still operational despite being at the whims of the hazards of the desolate planet, is fitted with 17 cameras and has taken many intriguing images, but this one has theorists and scientists alike puzzled.

Is it debris from Curiosity's landing? Is it a speckled mineral? Did it fall off of Luke Skywalker's landspeeder? Speculation is rampant

Redditors engaging in a lively debate on the topic made amusing comments, including: "Uh Nasa? Is this real?" and "Looks like light glimmering off of a genuine spaceship on an alien planet in outer space."

"They forgot to Photoshop that one out," one Redditor laconically remarked.

Unidentified object in photo taken by NASA Mars Curiosity lander.

© NASA/JPL

An alien enthusiast interviewed by the Daily Mail suggested that the object "might look like a spaceship, but as usual the picture is out of focus and there is no guide to tell the viewer how big or small this object is."

The interviewee asserted it is more than likely that "the object is a piece of debris from the Mars Rover itself," adding, "Unless we get more detailed information, this is another case of wishful thinking."