John Brandenburg, a plasma physicist at Orbital Technologies in Madison, Wisc. believes the Martian race was wiped out by nuclear explosion. In 2011, Brandenburg introduced the theory that the red color on Mars is due to a naturally occurring thermonuclear explosion, according to Daily Mail.
"The Martian surface is covered with a thin layer of radioactive substances including uranium, thorium and radioactive potassium - and this pattern radiates from a hot spot on Mars," Brandenburg previously said. "A nuclear explosion could have sent debris all around the planet."
However, the scientist with a PhD in Theoretical Plasma Physics from the University of California at Davis now believes ancient Martians - known as Cydonians and Utopians - were victims of genocide.
One of the alleged nuclear explosions occurred at Cydonia Mensa and a smaller explosion destroyed a civilization at a region called Galaxias Chaos, according to Daily Mail.
"Analysis of new images from Odyssey, MRO and Mars Express orbiters now show strong evidence of eroded archeological objects at these sites," Brandenburg wrote in an abstract, according to Daily Mail. "Taken together, the data requires that the hypothesis of Mars as the site of an ancient planetary nuclear massacre must now be considered."
Brandenburg asserts the Fermi Paradox - why, if there is life out there, have we not run into any alien life forms - could be explained by his theory. Or, as Eric M. Jones wrote in "An Account of Fermi's Question," "Where is Everybody?"
