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Examples of terrestrial tube worm trace fossils (A) (Josephs et al 2020, Fig 6) and tube worm cases (B) (Stainken 2020) for comparison with the tube-like structures on Mars The data were also analysed using principal components analysis (PCA) (Statistica Software, Statsoft Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA) (Armstrong and Hilton 2011, Rizzo et al. 2021). The analyses were carried out using all individual filaments or tubes as variables and the various metrics as defining features. In a PCA scatter plot of the different structures, the distance between them
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Statistical comparisons were made between various ‘tube-like’ structures photographed on Mars by Curiosity and Opportunity rovers in Gale and Endurance craters respectively and the worm ‘cases’ of terrestrial tube worms. Various statistical analyses, including principal components analysis (PCA) based on various metrics, suggested considerable simi...
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... the Gale crater study, three types of feature were compared: (1) eight examples of tube-like structures from Mars which may represent the fossils of worm cases; an example of which is shown in Fig 1, (2) two images of terrestrial trace fossils of tube worms, and (3) an image of a pseudofossil resembling fossil tube worms. In the Endurance crater study, three types of feature were compared: (1) five Martian tube-like structures which are shown in Fig 2, (2) an image of a group of terrestrial tube worm cases (Fig 3) , and (3) four images of terrestrial fossil tube worm cases (Turonian, Cyprus). Each image was opened using the software and magnified to clearly reveal the features of interest. ...
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... Ableson and others then stormed out of the meeting. When Levin's experiments detected biological activity in two different locations on Mars, these findings were repeatedly rejected by NASA officials and NASA scientists, some of whom claimed the "Bible" and "Torah" proves there is no life on Mars [28,63]. NASA administrator Dr. Velvl Greene complained that he was repeatedly warned by religious zealots working at NASA that searching for life on Mars was "contrary to Torah," and he "shouldn't be doing this kind of work...because it goes contrary to Torah...It's forbidden..." [63]. ...
... When Levin's experiments detected biological activity in two different locations on Mars, these findings were repeatedly rejected by NASA officials and NASA scientists, some of whom claimed the "Bible" and "Torah" proves there is no life on Mars [28,63]. NASA administrator Dr. Velvl Greene complained that he was repeatedly warned by religious zealots working at NASA that searching for life on Mars was "contrary to Torah," and he "shouldn't be doing this kind of work...because it goes contrary to Torah...It's forbidden..." [63]. ...
For thousands of years there have been reports of extraterrestrial beings and "sky boats" that have visited Earth as recounted in ancient texts from India, Egypt, and Greece. During WWII, pilots from "allied" and "enemy" countries were harassed by extraterrestrial craft referred to as "Foo fighters" and early in the war five UFOs appeared above Los Angeles and were impervious to attack. In 2023 the U.S. Congress heard testimony that military pilots have repeatedly encountered UFOs and UAPs and that government agencies have obtained the wreckage of and bodies from extraterrestrial spacecraft. In this report we provide a sample of official NASA Mars photographs of what appears to be the wreckage and debris from extraterrestrial spacecraft, partially buried bones, the body of a "humanoid" stretched out on a "cushion," the head of a "humanoid" possibly wearing a metal device on the front of its "face" and adjacent to a cratered debris field, two "humanoid" skulls including one that is atop what may be a raised elongated burial mound, UAPs/UFOs photographed in the skies of Mars and a silver saucer-shaped structure upon the ground. The identity of these specimens and anomalies are unknown, and the authors cannot state with certainty if these are extraterrestrial in origin. We hypothesize that government agencies refuse to acknowledge any evidence for extraterrestrial life, be it UAPs or fungi on Mars, because they fear that religious and government authority will be challenged and undermined.
... Several series of protrusions were identified by the Curiosity rover 'Mastcam' and 'ChemCam' between sol 3786 and 3800. Each image was opened using the image analysis software Image-J (Armstrong 2021a(Armstrong , 2021b) and magnified to clearly reveal the objects of interest. For qualitative and quantitative analysis, images were manipulated using brightness, contrast, sharpening, and edge detection to optimize the appearance of the objects and to establish their boundaries. ...
Unusual horizontal protrusions were photographed on rocks in Gale crater, Mars by the Curiosity rover 'Mastcam' and 'ChemCam' between sol 3786 and 3800. These protrusions follow horizons of bedding in the sedimentary rocks and have a variety of morphologies including 'spike-like', blunt 'wedge-like', 'plate-like', or 'serrated' protrusions. These features have resulted in considerable speculation as to their origin with both biogenic and geological explanations being suggested as well as the possibility they may represent debris from a saucer-shaped extraterrestrial space craft. Quantitative analyses of the spikes and wedges document significant uniformity in morphology and orientation. In addition, auto-correlation analysis of 12 samples of protrusions suggests they are random, clustered, or regularly distributed along the laminae. One rock outcrop, with many laminae affected, exhibits a considerable degree of concordance in position of the protrusions. The probability that this may be the remnant of any of the Mars orbiters or other terrestrial craft that crashed in Gale Crater is not likely as there is no apparent analog to any Mars-bound equipment and no evidence of a debris field, although a fragment from an extraterrestrial or terrestrial space craft cannot be discounted with absolute certainty, particularly in that fragments including what appears to be wheels, an axle and a cratered debris field have been photographed in another Gale Crater location. It is not likely that the spikes are a consequence of lightning or electromagnetism in the early life of Mars despite the high concentrations of magnetic minerals in the sediments. A possible explanation is a type of sand concretion known as a 'sand spike' formed in the presence of water, sand, and possibly seismic activity. The protrusions are also associated with surface features reminiscent of fungi and/or microbialites suggesting a biogenic component in their formation. Hence, the protrusions appear to be sand concretions revealed as a consequence of weathering and may result from various contributory factors; the most likely being water, seismic activity, and the activities of microorganisms. .
... The ancient lake beds of Gale Crater, which has likely repeatedly hosted lakes, rivers and a vast inland sea [1][2], have proven to be a veritable treasure trove of "Burgess Shale" fossil-like forms resembling a vast array of marine metazoans that first evolved during the Cambrian Eras on Earth, including arthropods with multiple appendages [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Examination of a small area at the bottom of the ancient lake bed of Gale Crater photographed on Sol 905 and swept clean of overlying dust, dirt, sand, algae, and organic debris by the rover Curiosity, has revealed, as reported here for the first time, formations that resemble what could be described as the Martian equivalent of armored and tri-segmented trilobites. ...
... It is estimated these putative arthropods range from 2 to 5 mm in length and diameter which is smaller than the average size of terrestrial arthropods. In other reports, putative Martian organisms and their fossils have been found to be typically smaller than their counterparts on Earth [3,[5][6] with notable exceptions: cyanobacteria, fungi, and lichens [9][10][11][12][13][14]. ...
... In addition, trace fossils of rock-boring marine organisms (mollusks, bivalves) have been photographed in Jezero Crater, Utopia Planitia and Chryse Planitia [23,33]. Specimens similar to crustaceans equipped with pleopods (for movement and scavenging) have also been photographed in the dried lake beds of Endeavor Crater adjacent to fossilized forms similar to tube worms and worm tubes and next to holes and a surface that has the chemistry and mineralogy of and may have served as hydrothermal vents [5,[28][29][30]. Putative Martian corals, trace fossils of what may be mollusks and bivalves that flourished along the shores of the sea, tube worms, and a vast assemblage of fossil-like marine-dwelling arthropods [2,[28][29][30][33][34][35] are mutually supportive evidence favoring the theory that life flourished in the oceans, lakes and seas of Mars. ...
As presented in this report numerous fossils like forms resembling a variety of marine arthropods including crustaceans, sea spiders, scorpions, arachnids, nematodes, annelids, tube worms, sea snakes, Kimberlla, Namacalathus, Lophotrochozoa, armored trilobites and millipedes have been found in Gale Crater (on Sols 302, 553, 753, 781, 809, 869, 880, 905, 1032), and (annelids, tube worms, crustaceans) in Meridiani Planum both of which have hosted rivers, lakes, and inland seas. Similar specimens are mixed within a variety of divergent fossil-like forms and are also found on distant sediment and mud stone. All specimens are distinct from underlying substrate and there are no obvious patterns or repetitions typically produced by erosion or weathering. Although without extraction and direct examination it is impossible to precisely determine the identity of all these specimens, the same problems bedevil identification of Burgess Shale fossils some of which are presented in this report for comparative analysis. The discoveries presented here and in other reports supports the theory that metazoans and other marine organisms evolved in the lakes, oceans and inland seas of Mars.
... Numerous cocoon-eggs photographed on Sol 1032 are also embedded in substrate that appears to consist entirely of a coral-microbialite-like mass of coiled and worm-like forms ( [1][2][3][4][5]; including specimens that appear to have multiple appendages and resemble insecta (Arthropoda) [6][7] whereas others are similar to ovoid-shaped lichenizedfungi topped with a single hole and which may be sporing. Moreover, some of the specimens resemble dead or fossilized puffballs with stems attached. ...
... In other previous reports elongated tubular specimens photographed in Gale Crater have been interpreted as ichnofossils of burrowing worms [1,[3][4][5]. This interpretation was subsequently rejected by a NASA-controlled journal [21] which also failed to review or acknowledge the comparative statistical and quantitative morphological evidence that favors a biological interpretation [3][4][5]22]. ...
... In other previous reports elongated tubular specimens photographed in Gale Crater have been interpreted as ichnofossils of burrowing worms [1,[3][4][5]. This interpretation was subsequently rejected by a NASA-controlled journal [21] which also failed to review or acknowledge the comparative statistical and quantitative morphological evidence that favors a biological interpretation [3][4][5]22]. Tubular forms, interpreted as "tube worms" and "tube worm casings" as well as specimens resembling crustaceans and mass groupings of coiled worm-like forms have also been photographed in the dried lake-beds of Endeavor Crater. There were photographed adjacent to holes and upon soil and matrix the chemistry and mineralogy of which is consistent with an ancient lake or inland sea heated by thermal vents [3,17,22]. ...
White and dark gray oblong-ovoid cocoon-egg-like forms (“cocoon-eggs”), less than a mm in diameter, many with a single hole in one end, and some with unidentifiable specimens protruding from (exiting or entering) these holes, were photographed on mudstone in Gale Crater, Mars, on Sol 1302. If biological some of these cocoon-eggs may be frozen, fossilized or have already “hatched” or undergone metamorphosis. Specimens resembling segmented and tubular worms and rhizoids and those with multiple appendages (Arthropoda) were also photographed on these and other substrates on Mars, including on Sols 130, 132, 302, 551, 553, 808, 809, 868, 906, 1280, 1921, in Gale Crater. Many Sol 1302 “cocoon-eggs” are embedded in substrate that appears to consist entirely of a coral-stromatolite-like mass of worm- and larvae-like forms; and similar worm and segmented larvae forms appear in the interior of three semi- transparent ovoid structures. Embedded in the soil surrounding these “cocoon-eggs” are numerous concave patches reminiscent of dried “egg-yolk,” cocoon remnants or fungus, and that may represent the final stage of “cocoon” collapse and disintegration; or they are fungal in origin. Some of the segmented and tubular worm-like forms may include rhizoids and tubular fungi. Ovoids with open apertures may be evidence of fungal sporing. The possibility that fungus and diverse species and their “cocoons” share the same substrate is supported by what appears to be cyanobacteria, worms, insecta (arthropoda), and stalks topped by ovoids or ovoid-shaped microbialite-like sediment. Fungi, lichens, cyanobacteria, stromatolites and arthropoda have been previously reported in other areas of Gale Crater, whereas fungal “puffballs” and specimens attached to rocks with stalks and topped with mushroom-like caps have been observed in Meridiani Planum. The possibility these specimens are abiogenic cannot be ruled out. The evidence, in our view, arguably supports the hypotheses that various organisms colonized Mars in the ancient or recent past.
... Mineralized/fossilized elongated forms resembling ichnofossils have been observed upon rocks along the dried lake bottom of Vera Rubin Ridge Gale Crater [6][7][8]44,45]. Some of these "tubes" appear hollow and/or have an open aperture at one end, and resemble mineralized tube worms. ...
... Some of these "tubes" appear hollow and/or have an open aperture at one end, and resemble mineralized tube worms. Detailed quantitative, comparative, morphological and statistical analysis of these tubular formations [6,8,44] have provided evidence contrary to any abiogenic crystal / mineral or rock erosion scenarios [12] and instead are supportive of the ichnofossil hypothesis [7] (Figures 38-40). ...
... These findings are similar to the comparative statistical data published by Joseph RG, et al. [6] and Armstrong CP [44]. Although the likelihood these are fossils of worms or their burrow has been challenged [12] numerous wormlike features are also common on adjacent rocks in Vera Rubin Ridge ( Figure 36). ...
An array of formations resembling the fossilized remains of Ediacaran and Cambrian fauna and other organisms have been observed embedded atop sediments in the dried lake beds of Gale Crater, Mars. Specimens similar in morphology have been found together, or upon adjacent and nearby rocks and mudstone.These include forms morphologically similar to polychaete and segmented annelids, tube worms, "Kimberella,” crustaceans, lobopods, chelicerates, Haplophrentis carinatus, and the “ice-cream-cone-shaped” “Namacalathus” and “Lophophorates.” All specimens may have dwelled in a large body of water and may have been fossilized/mineralized following the rapid receding of these waters. Statistical quantitive micro-and macro morphological comparisons with analog organisms from Earth support the fossil-hypothesis. It is highly unlikely that these specimens were fashioned via abiogenic forces including wind, mineralization, crystallization, dried mud, or water-erosion scenarios. Collectively, these putative fossils could represent the equivalent of a “Burgess Shale” and the remnants of Martian organisms that long ago flourished in the lakes and inland seas of Gale Crater, Mars.
... The lakes of Gale Crater hosted a wide ranging ecosystem that may have been initially based on chemolithoautotrophy as well as photosynthesis (Joseph et al. 2020b,f) and within which oxygen producing stromatolite-building cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, and then eukaryotic metazoan marine organisms may have eventually evolved (Armstrong 2021a(Armstrong ,b, 2022Joseph 2014;Joseph et al. 2019;Noffke, 2015;Latif, et al. 2021;Elewa 2021). Specifically, in addition to the stromatolites and microbial mats discovered in Gusav Crater, fossilized mats, domical stromatolites (Figures 30-37, 39-69) and an array of fossils similar to Ediacaran and Cambrian fauna have been identified in the dried lake beds of Gale Crater (Figures 75-108). ...
... These specimens were subjected to a computerized quantitative morphological analysis comparing them with analog fossils from Earth and were found to be statistically indistinguishable on all measures (Armstrong 2021a;Joseph et al. 2020d). Feature analysis of (1) the "ice-cream-cone" shaped Namacalathus" and "Lophophorates, included evidence of a 'head' and 'tail' that resembles terrestrial lophophorates and the Ediacaran fossil ...
... Kimberella also confirmed a close morphological similarity (Armstrong 2021a). ...
... This analysis compares the median values of the various metrics. Second, to study the similarities between the surface features on all four types of rock, the data were analysed using principal components analysis (PCA) (Armstrong & Hilton, 2011, Armstrong 2021b) and were carried out using the rocks as variables and the various metrics as defining features. In a PCA scatter plot of the different populations on the rocks, the distance between rocks reflects their relative similarity or dissimilarity among the surface features based on the defining metrics. ...
Vesicular rocks and thick clumps of green-colored matter photographed in Utopia Planitia and Chryse Planitia by NASA's Viking landers were subject to morphological and computerized quantitative pattern analysis. These vesicular rocks are not homogenous and include those similar to vesicular basalts, marine trace fossils, and "tafoni" which on Earth are fashioned via the interactional influences of moisture, powerful winds, the leaching of salts and lichen-chemical weathering. Upon magnification the green-colored vesicular substances closely resemble "vegetative matter" similar to green algae, lichens, mosses and vesicular mats. The green colors (based on false colors derived from spectra) may be indicative of chlorophyll and the capacity to produce oxygen via photosynthesis. These observations, when coupled with the continual replenishment of atmospheric oxygen and evidence of surface frost, subsurface water-ice, and past cycles of flooding and ponding of water, are supported by the positive results from the Viking Labeled Release and Gas Exchange experiments and should be viewed as confirming that beginning in 1976 the USA and NASA's Viking Landers 1 and 2 detected, photographed and discovered life and evidence of past life on Mars.
... This analysis compares the median values of the various metrics. Second, to study the similarities between the surface features on all four types of rock, the data were analysed using principal components analysis (PCA) (Armstrong & Hilton, 2011, Armstrong 2021b) and were carried out using the rocks as variables and the various metrics as defining features. In a PCA scatter plot of the different populations on the rocks, the distance between rocks reflects their relative similarity or dissimilarity among the surface features based on the defining metrics. ...
Rocks with numerous deep concave holes similar to trace fossils fashioned by mollusks have been photographed by Viking 2 in Utopia Planitia and the rover Perseverance in the ancient lakes beds of Jezero Crater, Mars. Specimens resembling colonies of worm-like burrowing mollusks occupy some of these concave cavities. A morphological quantitative analysis was conducted comparing various metrics of rock-surface trace fossils created by rock-drilling terrestrial bivalves with rocks with similar deep circular cavities photographed in Jezero Crater and with "heat shield" rock of Meridiani Planum; and additional analysis were performed in comparison to (a) verified meteorites and (b) with Martian and terrestrial vesicular basalt. The morphology, density, size distribution, and spatial patterns of the deep cavities on Jezero Crater rocks and trace fossils created by terrestrial bivalves were significantly statistically similar. The morphology and spatial pattern of these cavities were significantly different from the shallow depressions of meteorites; and the same is true of the Martian "heat shield" rock which is likely an iron-laden sediment that had been colonized by rock-drilling organisms. The Martian and terrestrial borehole rocks are also significantly different from vesicular basalt, and there is no similarity to the wind-carved boulders of Antarctica. Hence, as on Earth, rocks in Utopia Planitia, Meridiani Planum and along an ancient seashore at Jezero crater appear to have been colonized by rock-boring animals. These putative "trace fossils" and worm-like specimens should be considered evidence of life in the ancient inland seas of Mars.
... The lakes of Gale Crater may have hosted a wide ranging ecosystem that may have been initially based on chemolithoautotrophy as well as photosynthesis (Joseph et al. 2020b,f) and within which oxygen producing stromatolite-building cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, and then eukaryotic metazoan marine organisms may have eventually evolved (Armstrong 2021a(Armstrong ,b, 2022Joseph 2014;Joseph et al. 2019;Noffke, 2015;Latif, et al. 2021;Elewa 2021 Lophophorates (Joseph et al. 2020c,d); all of which were embedded adjacent to one another and to specimens that closely resemble each other. ...
... These specimens were subjected to a computerized quantitative morphological analysis comparing them with analog fossils from Earth and were found to be statistically indistinguishable on all measures (Armstrong 2021a;Joseph et al. 2020d). Feature analysis of (1) the "ice-cream-cone" shaped Namacalathus" and "Lophophorates, included evidence of a 'head' and 'tail' that resembles terrestrial lophophorates and the Ediacaran fossil ...
... Kimberella also confirmed a close morphological similarity (Armstrong 2021a). ...
Mars has been subject to repeated waxing and waning episodes of extreme chaotic obliquity (axial tilting) for at least four billion years. Obliquity is currently at 25.19 degrees and has exceeded 80◦. Each time obliquity exceeds 40◦ Martian atmospheric pressures and global temperatures increase causing the melting of glaciers and permafrost and subsurface ice, and resulting in oceans, lakes and rivers of water flooding across the surface then stabilizing and enduring for hundreds of thousands of years or longer. There is evidence that within these seas evolved stromatolite constructing cyanobacteria, green algae, acritarchs, foraminifera, seaweed, and marine metazoan invertebrates including sponges, tube worms, crustaceans, reef-building corals, bivalves, and those resembling Kimberella, Namacalathus and Lophophorates; almost all of which (with the exception of algae, fungi and lichens) may have become extinct. The last episode of extreme obliquity may have begun over a million years in the past and endured until 110,000 years ago. Subsequently, as axial tilting declined, the waters of Mars seeped back beneath the surface forming vast aquifers and glacial deposits of water-ice and the remainder froze at the poles and atop dusty layers of icy-sediment: the remnants of previous obliquity-driven freeze-thaw cycles that may have caused life to evolve and oceans and lakes to repeatedly form, stabilize, endure then freeze.
... Studies have postulated that metazoans that have been fossilized in Gale Crater (Joseph et al. 2020b). In addition, tube-like structures resembling the cases of terrestrial tube worms (Joseph et al. 2021b;Armstrong 2021) have been reported. ...
Forms resembling sponges or coral were photographed in Gale crater, Mars by the Curiosity rover 'Mars Hand Lens Imager' (MAHLI) on sol 3396 that may represent the result of either mineralization or be evidence of fossilisation. At least seven individual structures were observed showing various degrees of fragmentation, but the most complete specimen was approximately 1.3 cm across and consisted of apparently branched 'tubes' attached to the substratum at a single point. At higher magnification, a reticulate surface texture and possible pores were apparent; findings consistent with a biological origin. Although a mineral accretion or concretion cannot be ruled out, it is more probable that the structures represent the fossilised remains of a type of sponge or coral, the former being the more likely. In the early life of Gale crater, these putative sponges may have lived at the bottom of a shallow, saline lake, subsequently becoming preserved in deposits of sand or silt, and then were gradually exposed over long periods of time.
