Washington: The strange “glow” spotted on the red planet is not a sign of life. It is either a shiny rock or a glitch in the rover’s camera, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said.

UFO blogger Scott Waring had claimed that the new photograph taken by the rover suggests there are intelligent creatures living underground. However, NASA said it has now investigated the image, and found it is simply a trick of light.

“One possibility is that the light is the glint from a rock surface reflecting the sun,” a NASA spokesperson said.

“When these images were taken each day, the sun was in the same direction as the bright spot, west-northwest from the rover, and relatively low in the sky. The rover science team is also looking at the possibility that the bright spots could be caused by cosmic rays striking the camera’s detector,” he added.

NASA’s engineers believe the glow may have been caused by sunlight reaching the camera’s sensors through a vent hole in the camera housing.