Mars surface
Water in Mars could have been caused by meteorite impact. Pictured: In this handout image supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA) on July 16, 2008, The Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, is pictured from ESA's Mars Express. ESA via Getty Images

A UFO expert claimed that photos taken by NASA’s Opportunity rover on Mars showed an alien creature that slightly resembles a rabbit. According to the expert, the alleged creature was alive when the photo was taken and that NASA has footage of it as it was moving.

According to Scott Waring of UFO Sightings Daily, the photo of the alleged alien creature was taken by Opportunity shortly after it landed on Mars. In the photo, a small object can be seen with two elongated features sticking out of its body.

At first glance, the object or creature looks like a very small rabbit with long ears. Waring noted that NASA has a video of the object as it moved across the Martian sand. Unfortunately, the UFO expert claimed that the space agency refused to release the controversial footage.

“Now of course NASA tries to downplay the fact that this is alien life, although it is seen moving and then disappears,” Waring wrote in a blog post. “Only NASA has the video of it moving across the sand, which they refuse to release, but released a GIF of an ear moving at the original link below.”

The GIF that Waring was referring to was posted on NASA’s website for its Mars exploration rovers.

Contrary to Waring’s statements, NASA noted that the object, which the agency affectionately referred to as “bunny ears,” is not extraterrestrial in nature. Instead, NASA’s engineers believe that the object may have come from the vehicle that brought the Opportunity rover to Mars.

Rob Manning, the lead engineer for the entry, descent and landing procedures for the rover, speculated that the object was a piece of soft material from the vehicle that was blown by the Martian winds.

“Our team believes that this odd-looking feature is a piece of soft material that definitely came from our vehicle," Manning said in a statement.

“We cannot say exactly where it came from but we can say that there are several possibilities: cotton insulation, Vectran covers and wraps from the airbag, Zylon bridle tensioning ties, or felt insulation from the gas generators.... The list goes on,” he added.