NASA’s Curiosity rover is searching Mars for clues about whether the planet once supported ancient life, but one of its latest images has prompted a very different kind of speculation: claims that it shows evidence of a long-lost civilization.
The wide panorama was captured last month from inside Gale Crater, the 96-mile-wide impact basin where Curiosity has been operating since it touched down on the Red Planet in 2012.
In the dusty Martian scene, some observers have focused on a distant rock formation they believe resembles a structure with an opening, drawing comparisons to a primitive human shelter.
The idea was promoted by Scott C. Waring of UFO Sightings Daily, who claimed the feature looks as though it was built from a “clay stucco type of material” that he says is plentiful on Mars.
“What looks like cut boulders is actually clay-type walls and an entrance way made by intelligent beings who needed protection from the elements. We had them on Earth long ago, and they had them on Mars long ago,” Waring said.
NASA has not responded publicly to the newest claims. However, the space agency has previously addressed similar theories, including after Curiosity photographed a door-like rock feature in 2022.
“The mound, on Mount Sharp, has a number of naturally occurring open fractures – including one roughly 12 inches (30 centimeters) tall and 16 inches (40 centimeters) wide, similar in size to a dog door,” NASA said at the time.
“These kinds of open fractures are common in bedrock, both on Earth and on Mars.”
An image taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover has sparked claims of a long-lost civilization as a formation in the distance appears to have a ‘doorway’
NASA has also maintained that it has no evidence of extraterrestrial life and has yet to find any signs of current or past life on Mars.
While Waring is sure Curiosity spotted a hidden doorway on the Martian landscape, others believe otherwise.
‘Nah, just a rock formation. I definitely think it’s possible that entrances could be there, but this just looks like a shadow,’ one X user commented on his post.
However, Waring said: ‘Chances of intelligent beings creating this structure…100%.’
Curiosity rover is a car-sized, nuclear-powered robot searching for signs of life and learning about the Red Planet’s unique environment.
The image shared by NASA in 2022 took the internet by storm, with many users also claiming that it shows a doorway.
‘That appears man-made,’ one user shared on X.
Another posted: ‘Not natural! The angles are too sharp, like a rectangle, to have been naturally occurring. It was constructed by someone, something.’
Among the dusty landscape , some have pointed to a formation in the distance that they say resembles a structure with a doorway, similar to an early human dwelling
NASA has not commented on the latest claims, but the agency previously addressed similar speculation after Curiosity photographed a door-like feature in 2022 (pictured)
Waring has been sharing bizarrely shaped rocks on the Red Planet for about a decade now, with another recent discovery this week.
In an image captured by NASA’s Opportunity rover in 2014, a strangely shaped rock lies on the Martian landscape.
Waring suggested it was an ‘alien gun,’ and NASA sent the rover to retrieve it.
‘Alien gun on Mars photos, only one still exists, others deleted by NASA,’ Waring shared on X on Tuesday.
The image was previously circulated by Waring, writing in a blog post that the supposed weapon was ‘about one foot long.’
‘I have to admit… It’s incredible,’ he shared. ‘The exact location of the gun is at SOL 3773, which is between Mt Edgecumbe and Wdowiak Ridge.’
While Waring believes the object is a gun lying on the Martian surface, skeptics argue it is nothing more than a naturally shaped rock.
In an image captured by NASA’s Opportunity rover in 2014, a strangely shaped rock lies on the Martian landscape, which some claimed was an ‘alien gun’
One X user commented: ‘I’m not an expert, but I believe this is a rock.’
While another joked: ‘Why would aliens have guns designed for human hands and fingers? lol.’
NASA’s Opportunity rover landed on Mars on January 25, 2004, touching down in a small impact crater known as Eagle Crater on the Meridiani Planum.
However, the robot fell silent in June 2018 during a severe, planet-wide dust storm that blocked sunlight from reaching its panels. After spending months attempting to re-establish contact, NASA officially declared the mission complete in February 2019.
