Scientists have raised fresh hopes of finding evidence of life on Mars with the detection of ‘plumes’ of methane gas on the Red Planet, which has gripped the public imagination for more than a century as a possible home for aliens.

In the strongest indicator yet of life on Mars, the ‘plumes’ of methane gas belched in vast quantities in our world by cows, was detected by orbiting spacecraft and from Earth using giant telescopes, the Sun reported on Friday.

According to the British tabloid, alien microbes living just below the Martian soil are responsible for a haze of methane around the Red Planet, Nasa scientists believe. Furthermore, Nasa has found the gas in the same regions as clouds of water vapour, the vital “drink” needed to support life.

UK Mars expert Professor Colin Pillinger, who masterminded the unsuccessful Beagle 2 mission to Mars in 2003, believes the methane can only point to the presence of life on the planet.

“Methane is a product of biology. For methane to be in Mars’ atmosphere, there has to be a replenishable source,” he told paper.

“The most obvious source of methane is organisms. So, if you find methane in an atmosphere, you can suspect there is life. It’s not proof, but it makes it worth a much closer look,” he stressed.

John Murray, member of the Mars Express European space probe team, believes the mini-Martians may be in a form of suspended animation and could even be revived. He has found overwhelming evidence of a vast frozen ocean beneath the dust near the Martian equator where simple life could have thrived as microbes. Brad Bebout, a NASA microbiologist, said if methane is present in the atmosphere of Mars, then something must be producing it on the planet now, because the gas is broken down by sunlight within 300 years.

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