An alien craft shaped like a cigar was found in a photo obtained by a British hacker from Nasa

British hacker Gary McKinnon was not expecting to find evidence of alien life after gaining access to NASA files. Despite this, he claims to have seen thousands of images on the space agency's system including one depicting a cigar-shaped alien spacecraft.

He says the photos were found between February 2001 and March 2002 when he hacked into 97 US government computers.NASA is hiding evidence of alien life, according to the hacker, who was shocked by the number of images hidden.

Gary's findings sparked a lengthy legal battle, and the Brit was even threatened with extradition and prosecution. Gary spoke to The Sun about his findings, and he explained his initial shock and disbelief at discovering what he believes is proof that aliens have visited Earth.

The fact that there are objects in our skies that we do not understand, and that there are scientific, intelligence, and military departments that study them, cannot be denied.'I was astonished and those folders contained thousands more images.”

Gary's findings reached the attention of US prosecutors, and they wanted him jailed for up to 60 years. In 2002 and 2005, he was arrested at the request of the US, and authorities estimated that the costs of fixing the problems he caused exceeded $700,000.

Gary was slated to be extradited from the UK in 2006, but this led to years of appeals and a campaign to stop it. Due to Gary's Asperger's syndrome, former home secretary Theresa May blocked his extradition in October 2012.

Two months later, current Labour leader Keir Starmer announced Gary would not be prosecuted in the UK. Gary avoided legal action and raised awareness about how governments may be concealing evidence of alien visitors to Earth.

Donna Hare, a former NASA employee, claims that satellite images were scrubbed of UFO evidence at the Johnson Space Center. Gary had heard about Donna's claim and wanted to verify her account.

Gary claims that when he viewed NASA files, he saw four folders named: filtered, unfiltered, processed, and raw. Due to his 56k dial-up internet connection, he was only able to download one picture from the folder before he lost access - an image of the cigar-shaped spacecraft.

As part of a congressional meeting about UFOs held last week, the topic of aliens visiting Earth made headlines in America. In the last year, reports of 'unidentified aerial phenomena' have doubled, according to the first meeting of its kind in more than 50 years.

Also, it concluded that the US government wants to know more about what's out there in space. The news was welcomed by UFO theorists, especially those who believe that aliens have already interacted with mankind.

Gary is not convinced that this event is significant or will lead to further information being shared about alien life. As he said: '[The hearing] is of no significance for disclosure. These hearings, discussion panels, and the like are never productive for disclosure.'

Gary believes that evidence of UFOs is being hidden in the US. The reason could be that the technological advancements of alien crafts are too advanced for humans to comprehend. There is also a possibility that technology has been extracted from mystery objects that the government wants to keep secret.

Gary maintains that his hacks did no harm and that he was able to access NASA machines because they used unencrypted versions of Windows. Although no undisputed proof of alien life has been discovered, the work of people like Gary raises important questions about what governments around the world are holding back from the public.