New findings from an infrared satellite suggest that an on-board explosion, not a missile as previously suggested, might have caused the crash of a Russian commercial aircraft over the Sinai peninsula on Saturday.  

A senior U.S. official, who has chosen to remain anonymous, stated that an American infrared satellite detected a heat flash at the same time over the same location where the Russian MetroJet flight was thought to have met its fate, according to NBC News.

The official further stated that the imagery suggests that some kind of explosion on the aircraft itself, possibly a fuel tank or even a bomb, was the cause of the heat flash. Had a missile been involved, the satellite imagery would have shown the missile's heat signature as it approached the aircraft.

"The speculation that this plane was brought down by a missile is off the table," the U.S. official said.

Immediately after the fatal incident, an Islamic State-affiliated group claimed responsibility for the attack, though Russian officials expressed doubts about the group's claim, arguing that the terrorist organization likely lacks the necessary technology to pull off such an attack, reports The Huffington Post.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, states that Russia has not ruled out terrorism as a cause of the explosion just yet.

The MetroJet-operated Airbus A321 crashed on Saturday over the Sinai peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.

For more news about the incident, click here.