It might sound like the plot to a Hollywood science-fiction blockbuster, but an astronaut claims to have seen an ‘organic, alien-like’ creature on the Space Shuttle.
Nasa engineer Leland Melvin made the astonishing claims during a discussion with a conspiracy theorist on social media.
The former NFL football player says he spotted the creature in the payload bay of the space shuttle Atlantis, which was in orbit above the Earth at the time.
When he told Nasa about the sighting, space agency experts told Melvin the most likely explanation was ice had broken off away from the shuttle and it was the movement of these floating shards that caught his eye.
It may sound like the plot to a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster, but an astronaut claims to have seen an ‘organic, alien-like’ creature. Nasa engineer Leland Melvin (pictured) made the astonishing claims during a discussion with a conspiracy theorist on social media
The revelation was made during an exchange on social network Twitter, held between Mr Melvin, 54, who worked as an engineer aboard the shuttle, and Scott C. Waring, who runs the site UFO Sightings Daily.
Mr Waring asked: ‘What’s your outlook about the existence of intelligent alien life living in our solar system? Have you ever witnessed a UFO?’
Mr Melvin responded he had seen something ‘translucent, curved, organic looking’ when he was working with colleague Randy Bresnik.
He joked: ‘I was about to say “Houston we have a problem” but know everyone spins-up when those words are uttered from a space vehicle.’
The pair called the ground to ask Nasa what it could be and were toll that the sighting was probably ice that had broken away and floated of the Freon hoses.
Mr Melvin dismissed claims by the UFO enthusiast that Nasa’s explanation was a cover up but did admit ‘you never know.’
Nasa launched its first space shuttle, Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1), from the Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981.
In the three decades that followed, the space agency deployed a total of 135 missions from US soil.

The former NFL football player (pictured) says he spotted the object in the payload bay of the space shuttle Atlantis, which was in orbit above the Earth at the time

Space agency experts told Mr Melvin (pictured waving) that the most likely explanation was ice that had broken off of the shuttle.

The comments were made during a Twitter exchange between Mr Melvin, 54, who worked as an engineer aboard the shuttle and Scott C. Waring, who runs the site UFO Sightings Daily. Mr Melvin dismissed claims that Nasa’s explanation was a cover up
The shuttle missions came to an end with the Atlantis shuttle (STS-135), which flew 33 missions during its service, on July 21, 2011.
This is not the first time the space agency has been accused of covering up evidence of extra terrestrial life.
Various objects snapped near the International Space Station have been claimed to be alien in origin by conspiracy theorists.
In March, researcher Barry DiGregorio at Buckingham University claimed the Curiosity rover snapped trace fossils created by soft-bodied creatures on Mars.
Images beamed back to Earth from Curiosity appear to show patterns similar to Ordovician trace fossils Dr DiGregorio has photographed here on Earth, he claimed.
Trace fossils are made by animals going about their lives, like footprints, burrows and waste matter, rather than the remains of the creatures themselves.
According to Nasa, the shapes captured in images from Mars are simply rock crystals that are currently undergoing analysis.

Nasa launched its first space shuttle, Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1), from the Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981. The shuttle missions came to an end with the Atlantis shuttle, pictured launching in this stock image

The Atlantis shuttle flew 33 missions during its service, but was grounded on July 21, 2011. In the years since, Nasa has had to rely on Russian modules to send astronauts to the ISS, all of which launch from foreign soil