No Evidence That Humans Lived on Mars

A circulating Tik Tok prompt posits the question, “What’s a conspiracy theory that absolutely blows your mind?” Last week, user crackheadjoedirt, responded by saying, “Human beings come from Mars. Crazy, I know, but hear me out.” He goes on to explain the theory in two parts: first, that Mars once had a natural water source, and second, that humans drained the planet’s natural resources, and destroyed it during nuclear war. This caused it to turn red after millions of years. The video has been watched over one million times.

A similar theory has been proposed by a single scientist, Dr. John Brandenburg, who made headlines in 2016 when he tried to convince the world that Mars experienced nuclear blasts from a hostile alien race.  He published a research paper in 2020 claiming that the presence of an isotope called “Xenon 129” provides evidence of such nuclear blasts, and that the sites of these events are visible on any map of Mars.