Life on Mars revelation: University in major U-turn over insect discovery on Red Planet

IN A dramatic and embarrassing U-turn a university that published a press release claiming proof of the existence of insects on Mars has deleted the paper.

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Last week, Professor Emeritus William Romoser, an entomologist from Ohio University, said images captured by ’s Mars rovers show evidence of “fossilised and living creatures” on the planet’s surface. The paper made the lofty claim “there has been and still is life on Mars” in the now deleted press release. It appears that the enjoys a surprising abundance of higher life forms, the paper continued.

The research is based on on images sent back to earth by the Mars Rover and drew some astonishing conclusions.

Even more shockingly the paper claimed the life on Mars wasn’t simply limited to insects, as reptile like aliens were also claimed to exist which preyed on them.

“The insect-like fauna observed appeared to be sheltering/nesting in caves, in burrows beneath the surface, and in specialized structures,” the paper added.

“There is apparent diversity among the Martian insect-like fauna which display many features similar to Terran insects that are interpreted as advanced groups – for example, the presence of wings, wing flexion, agile gliding/flight, and variously structured leg elements.”

The paper made the lofty claim “there has been and still is life on Mars” in the now deleted press release

The paper made the claim “there has been and still is life on Mars” in the deleted press release (Image: GETTY)

Images captured by Nasa’s Mars rovers were claimed to show evidence of “living creatures”

Images captured by Nasa’s Mars rovers were claimed to show evidence of “living creatures” (Image: GETTY)

Explaining his conclusions from the images Mr Romoser said: “Once a clear image of a given form was identified and described, it was useful in facilitating recognition of other less clear, but none-the-less valid, images of the same basic form.

“An exoskeleton and jointed appendages are sufficient to establish identification as an arthropod. Three body regions, a single pair of antennae, and six legs are traditionally sufficient to establish identification as “insect” on Earth. ‘These characteristics should likewise be valid to identify an organism on Mars as insect-like. On these bases, arthropodan, insect-like forms can be seen in the Mars rover photos.”

Mr Romoser was an entomology professor at Ohio University for 45 years and co-founded its Tropical Disease Institute, during his tenure he also authored and co-authored four editions of the widely-used textbook called ‘The Science of Entomology’.

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It was claimed the insects appeare to live in burrows under the planet's surface

It was claimed the insects appeare to live in burrows under the planet's surface (Image: GETTY)

The professor was adamant his findings were correct as he stated the “the sheer volume of evidence is compelling”.

“I have observed instances suggestive of standing water or small water courses with evident meander and with the expected blurring of small submerged rocks, larger emergent rocks at the atmosphere/water interface, a moist bank area, and a drier area beyond the moist area. Water on Mars has been reported a number of times, including surface water detected by instrumentation on Viking, Pathfinder, Phoenix, and Curiosity.

“The evidence of life on Mars presented here provides a strong basis for many additional important biological as well as social and political questions,” he added. It also represents a solid justification for further study.”

The U-turn comes as NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) photos have documented storms on a global scale, which may explain why the Red Planet no longer has water.

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The professor had said the

The professor had said the "sheer volume of evidence was compelling" (Image: GETTY)

NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) photos have documented storms on a global scale

NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) photos have documented storms on a global scale (Image: GETTY)

New NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images reveal a series of violent storms have broken out, covering the Red Planet in a dusty haze.

NASA believes such a global dust storm was responsible for ending the Mars Opportunity rover’s mission in 2018.

Two technical papers recently described a phenomenon observed within the storm: dust towers.

These are concentrated clouds of dust that warm in sunlight and quickly rise high into the air.

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NASA believes dust-trapped water vapour may have ridden these clouds into space, where brutal solar radiation tears their molecules apart.

Dust towers are massive, churning clouds far denser and climb much higher than normal background dust in the thin Martian atmosphere.

While they also occur under normal conditions, the freak weather phenomena appear to form in greater numbers during global storms.

The dust storms may explain the lack of water

The dust storms may explain the lack of water (Image: GETTY)

A dust tower starts at the planet’s surface as an area of rapidly lifted dust the size of Hampshire.

Dr David Kass, a NASA Mars Climate Sounder scientist, said: “Global dust storms are really unusual.

“We really don’t have anything like this on the Earth, where the entire planet’s weather changes for several months.”

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