The surface of Mars may be a dusty wasteland now, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have supported life before, according to alien hunters. As reported by DailyMail.co.uk, alien hunters claim to have discovered photographic evidence that Mars may have been covered with vegetation at one point. An image taken by the Curiosity rover on Sol 164 shows what YouTube.com channel Paranormal Crucible asserts are “the petrified remains of a Martian tree.”

“This object definitely looks out of place and in my opinion could be the petrified remnants of a Martian tree. Object is around three feet in height, and with numerous discoveries of plant and animal life on Mars, it would be logical to assume, that a variety of tree either existed, or still exists on this enigmatic planet,” the YouTuber wrote in the video description box. In the video, one can see a curious object in the upper-left corner of the image. After processing and enhancing the image, Paranormal Crucible notes, “Mars is filled with exotic plant life.”

Of the discovery, Martian researcher, Scott C. Waring, has said: “It is a good assumption since NASA themselves said Mars was Earth-like when a solar explosion hit the planet, stripping the atmosphere and oceans from the surface.” (Related: NASA announces surveyor spacecraft may have found evidence of flowing water on Mars)

For trees to thrive on the red planet, they would need a water source. The YouTube.com channel, WhatsUpInTheSky37, shared a video with supposed evidence of lakes and trees on the surface of Mars. Will Farrar, who operates the channel, used images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on the Mars Global Surveyor. “We now have over five or six very good shots from the air that seem to show frozen or warm water lakes sitting on the Martian surface. This has never been addressed by NASA since we are still looking for these ‘miniscule’ [sic] traces of life and water,” Ferrar wrote in the description below the video. The images that Farrar shared appear to show bodies of still liquid surrounded by dark-colored objects.

Waring has called the discovery “mind-blowing”, and then went on to say: “there are lakes on Mars and we now have government evidence to back that up. This is 100 percent proof that lakes and rivers exist on Mars, which means that fish and water creatures do as well. Water is a main source for animals to exist, so this may also be a big visiting spot from some smaller life forms.”

The Martian researcher is no stranger to unusual Mars discoveries himself. In the past, he claimed to have found a possible alien skull in one of the Curiosity images. “This skull has dark lines around the eye sockets, just as humans do. It has two eye sockets, just as humans do. Its nose and mouth area seem to be connected. There are two long bones on each side of the mouth area, which could have been part of the jaw area. Near the eye socket is a curved bone area on the side of its head, as some human skulls have. I have found many skulls on Mars and this one seems similar to a few of them. It is 100 per cent evidence that aliens lived and died on Mars long ago.”

NASA states that it has yet to find evidence of former or current life on MARS. However, researchers from NASA have uncovered traces of water beneath the surface, which they state is proof that Mars was once covered in oceans.

Read more about Mars and other planets by visiting Space.news.

Sources include:

YouTube.com 1
YouTube.com 2
DailyMail.co.uk
UFOSightingsDaily.com
DeccanChronicle.com
Express.co.uk