UFO On Seabed?

A mysterious circle on a grainy scan, this is what scientists are claiming is finally evidence that Earth has been visited by aliens. Researchers have claimed the fuzzy outline is a flying saucer that ended up 300ft down on the ocean floor between Sweden and Finland. They were stunned when sonar scans taken while searching for a century-old wreck showed up the shape against the dirt.

The ocean exploration team which found it claims that the earth around the craft has been scarred, suggesting it has tried to move around. Lead researcher Peter Lindberg also suggested that another explanation could be that it was 'a new Stonehenge'.

The 'discovery' has sparked a flurry of speculation by UFO watchers and bloggers. Some have even suggested it resembles the Millennium Falcon from the Star Wars series, with its distinctive front forks and round shape. Newspapers in Sweden have put the story on their front pages and asked if this is really the first sign of extra-terrestrial life. The shape was found at the bottom of the Gulf of Bothnia during a search for a sunken wreck which contained several cases of champagne.

Mr Lindberg said it was large and about 60ft in diameter and clearly visible on the sea bed.

'You see a lot of weird stuff in this job, but during my 18 years as a professional I have never seen anything like this. The shape is completely round,' he said. He added that the scars on the earth surrounding it could show where the craft landed and skidded along. Now, however, his team do not have the money or resources to examine the shape further. If it does turn out to be a UFO it will be priceless, but if it is just a shape, it will be worthless.

Such claims have been made many times in the past, the most famous of which was the 'Bimini Road', a rock formation in the Caribbean which looked like a road. Located 55miles east of Miami in Florida, the formation has been linked to the lost city of Atlantis although geologists have said it was naturally formed.

Experts have also pointed out that even the idea of a flying saucer as a round object might be wrong - the first sighting of such a craft later turned out to be a reporting error.

Some enthusiasts have compared the shape to the Millennium Falcon from the Star Wars series, with its distinctive front forks and round shape