A "thigh bone" on Mars may be the remains of an ancient Martians, or it could be - as NASA believes - a natural artifact on the surface of the Red Planet.
The Curiosity rover on Mars captured the image that had some people excited that proof of alien life had finally been detected. The picture was taken on 14 August, showing a small pile of rocks and dust, including the unusual femur-like object.
NASA researchers believe the rock was likely shaped by erosion, which carved the rock into its unlikely shape.
"No bones about it! Seen by Mars rover Curiosity using its MastCam, this Mars rock may look like a femur thigh bone. Mission science team members think its shape is likely sculpted by erosion, either wind or water," mission managers wrote on the NASA website.
Similar mysterious rocks have been found before on the surface of Mars, including one that resembled a finger, and another that looked like a spine. Other rocks have also been found on Mars which look a little like a lizard, a helmet for an alien and a dinosaur. The resemblance of this rock to a human femur was reported on UFO Blogger.
In February 2013, Curiosity snapped a picture of a shiny rock, resembling a door handle on Mars.
"[T]he object is an interesting study in how wind and the natural elements cause erosion and other effects on various types of rocks," Ron Sletten, researcher on the Curiosity science team, stated on the NASA web site, commenting on the 2013 finding.
Astrobiologists believe complex life is unlikely to have ever evolved on Mars, as the planet likely never had enough oxygen for complex life forms to evolve. This mean the chances of finding a large fossil on the Red Planet is unlikely. The search continues for evidence of microbial life, either past or present, on or beneath the Martian surface.
Mars has a long history of fooling humans into believing they can see evidence of life on its surface. In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer, announced his "discovery" of channels of water on Mars. The Italian word for channel, canali, was misinterpreted into English as canals, a suggestion of an intelligent - and industrious - population. Irish astronomer Charles Burton believed he could see these canals, and he created maps of these "waterways." The idea was later popularized by American astronomer Percival Lowell. Better-quality telescopes produced at the start of the 20th century revealed these channels to be an optical illusion.
