A top scientist has accused NASA of hiding evidence of alien life on Mars, and he plans to prove it with a landmark report.
Dr Barry DiGregorio is convinced that the images released by the space agency, captured by the Mars rover Curiosity this year, are evidence of life activity.
The footprints and fossils, according to a researcher at Buckingham University, are signs of "soft, warm-blooded creatures" that once roamed the Red Planet.
NASA said it believes the fossils may be crystals and is considering "different options" for what is shown in these images.
But Dr DiGregorio accuses NASA of the cover-up and believes they are hiding the truth to raise their stakes ahead of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s.
He told the Daily Star Online: “Suppose these images are not present and these footprints have not been seen on Mars to date. But I was alarmed that NASA immediately left this area. Therefore, when I began to carefully examine the pictures, I discovered these finds.
If you look at the images more closely, you will immediately understand everything yourself. These are not just crystals, they are fossils.
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NASA for some reason refused to study this. An order came from NASA headquarters to urgently move the rover to the next point.
They didn't want to explore this area, which is important enough, and I thought it was very strange, despite the fact that there are traces of lakes in this area that are billions and billions of years old.
These are not crystals. We are talking about something that could be equivalent to the Ordovician period on Earth."
To continue his research, Dr DiGregorio teamed up with two other experts to study the findings.
He says that he will give a talk that will discuss the results that indicate signs of alien life.
Dr DiGregorio has long held the view that extraterrestrial life was in full swing on Mars a billion years ago.
And he believes that the new results will confirm his opinion.
“If you have been studying this issue as long as I have, if you see what I have seen during this time, then you would agree with me that NASA deliberately avoids looking for life there.
To be honest, there are a number of assumptions about this.
And the fact that they know that there is life, I have no doubt. NASA knows that living microbes live in the soil of Mars."
Dr DiGregorio now lives in New York, USA, but was previously a Research Fellow at the Center for Astrobiology in Cardiff, UK from 1999 to 2010.
The Daily Star Online reached out to NASA for comment.