It appears that politicians are also interested to know the real deal about intelligent alien life. In a hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held on Tuesday, July 18, one congressman caused a stir when he asked about life on Mars.
Was There A Mars Civilization Thousands Of Years Ago?
Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher asked a panel of NASA space experts who were testifying before the committee if life may have existed on the Red Planet thousands of years ago.
The legislator was not talking about microbial life on what is now an arid world. Rohrabacher was asking about civilizations.
"You have indicated that Mars had a, was totally different thousands of years ago," the California congressman said. "Was it possible that there was a civilization on Mars thousands of years ago?"
Project scientist Kenneth Farley of the NASA Mars Rover 2020 addressed an issue with the timeline mentioned in Rohrabacher's question. Evidence suggests that the Red Planet was significantly different billions of years ago and not thousands of years ago.
Billions of years ago, Mars was far warmer and wetter than it is today. It also appears to have had liquid water on the surface, which could have made Mars a possible place for microbial life to thrive before the planet lost its atmosphere to space.
"Very early in the planet's history (more than 3.5 billion years ago) climatic conditions appear to have been favorable for the presence of liquid water on the surface. The evidence for this comes from the presence of fluvial features on ancient terrains, such as valley networks and open lake systems, that likely indicate precipitation and runoff," NASA has said.
Farley said that there is no evidence of an ancient Mars civilization that he is aware of.
Conspiracy Theories
When asked what he thinks of civilizations that exist on the extraterrestrial world, Farley said it is extremely unlikely. Rohrabacher also made mention of "some people," which could have meant those who claim of intelligent life on the Red Planet.
Last month, a guest on the radio talk show Infowars hosted by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made claims that some children on Earth were kidnapped and sent to a colony on Mars to work as slaves.
"We actually believe that there is a colony on Mars that is populated by children who were kidnapped and sent into space on a 20 year ride. So that once they get to Mars they have no alternative but to be slaves on the Mars colony," said Infowars guest Robert David Steele, a former Marine and Central Intelligence Agency case officer.
