NASA Photo Captures 'Coral Fossil' On Mars?

There is still so much to know about Mars even if space agencies like NASA have already spent years studying the Red Planet.

What we know for sure, however, is that the Red Planet was once covered by large bodies of water. According to a report by Live Science, the NASA rover Curiosity discovered chemical evidence of liquid water that may or could have existed on Mars. The evidence is large deposits of clay molecules which were disclosed by NASA.

The clay molecules can only be formed if the water is present so this is clear evidence that life may have once existed on Mars. The planet’s weak atmosphere, however, may have affected the presence of liquid on the planet so now there’s absolutely no water that can be found on the surface of Earth’s cousin.

"There's no single silver bullet on this life-detection issue. The data is cumulative,“ Penelope Boston, an astrobiologist at NASA, said in the report.

The possibility of water existing on the planet and along with it, life, has encouraged various space enthusiasts and alien theorist to conduct their own research on finding creatures on Mars. Using official photos beamed back by rovers and orbiters, these individuals would spend hours on hundreds of photos trying to find any irregularities or oddities that may point to alien life on the planet.

For years, there have been various claims which include animals like birds, rabbits and even mythological creatures like the sasquatch once existing on Mars. There have also been supposed evidence of “fish fossils” being discovered by UFOlogists, which would also make sense if the planet was indeed covered by water before.

A photo was taken a couple of years back also showed what looks like brain coral fossil on the surface of the planet. Could it once exist in Mars’ underwater environment? Maybe not. According to a CNET report, the photo taken by the NASA Reconnaissance Orbiter is actually an "enigmatic landform."

What looked like coral fossil is a 1.2-mile wide circular “islet” found on the Athabasca region of Mars. The coral-like formation is actually lava flows which formed in time and preserved by the planet’s volatile atmosphere.

"Perhaps lava has intruded underneath this mound and pushed it up from beneath. It looks as if the material is missing from the mound, so it is also possible that there was a significant amount of ice in the mound that was driven out by the heat of the lava,” NASA explained that time.

What’s interesting about this find, however, is that NASA acknowledged that the area where the islet was found has a number of mysterious features that scientists still need to discern. If so, then it would be quite exciting to figure out what the space agency will discover in the coming days ahead.