We are all Martians, claims scientist

London, Jan 18 (ANI): An astronomer has suggested that all human beings may be Martians, as meteorites from the Red Planet may have seeded life on Earth billions of years ago.

According to a report in The Sun, the astronomer in question is Heather Couper.

"Mars is closer to the solar system's asteroid belt than us and must have been hit by many more impacts. Some collisions blasted bits of Mars into space which circled the sun and fell to Earth as meteorites," she said.

"So, it is possible life began on Mars and spread to Earth thanks to cosmic collisions. It means we could all be Martians," she added.

The claim follows the recent finding that methane gas has been detected on Mars.

It is backed up by tests by scientists to see if microbes could survive the shock of being blasted into space and hitting another planet.

They showed micro-organisms that live in cracks within rocks survived all but the most cataclysmic impacts.

The discovery that microbes may still inhabit Mars is sparking fresh interest in a four billion-year-old Martian meteorite found in Antarctica in 1984.

NASA has said that it might contain fossils of microbes, which some scientists believe are Martian life forms. (ANI)