Mars Curiosity rover snaps traffic light-shaped rock on the red planet

Space enthusiasts watching the Mars rover roam the surface of the red planet were stopped in their tracks after the explorer spotted - a traffic light.

Nasa has been beaming photos from the surface of Mars since its mobile robot Curiosity landed on the 'red' planet in August 2012 which is excellent news for armchair explorers like Joe Smith who noticed a bizarre traffic light-shaped rock formation on the footage.

Bristol-based Smith from YouTube channel ArtAlien.TV said: "I have been following the images from Nasa since the start and I flick through them on the Nasa website every day.

"I saw this one and I thought 'hang on, that looks a bit strange'.  I think it looks like a traffic light.

"It is hard to tell how big it would be without any point of reference, but I would estimate it was about 12 inches.

"I posted it on the internet and people said they thought it looked like a set of traffic lights too - although some people did say it looked like a totem pole."

According to Smith, the image was shot from the six-foot-high left hand side mast cam on the Curiosity Rover on Thursday 18 September.

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ArtAlien.TV's website claims that: "There is comprehensive evidence for life on Mars if you know where and how to look for it."

Nasa, which ArtAlien.TV describes as a "military organization",  has yet to comment on the website's latest find.