Dr Barry DiGregorio is convinced images released by the space agency’s Curiosity rover this year are proof of trace fossils.
The trace fossils, according to the research fellow for the University of Buckingham, represent signs of “soft bodied creatures” who once roamed the Red Planet.
NASA said it believes the figures may be crystals, and is considering “multiple possibilities” on the space snaps.
But Dr DiGregorio has accused the organisation of a cover-up, and believes it may be withholding the truth in order to boost its plan to send humans to Mars in the 2030s.
He told Daily Star Online: “Put it this way, these images, these figures, have not been seen on Mars to date.
“One of the things that grabbed me immediately was the expediency that NASA left the area of such a mission.
“So when I started looking, it wasn’t just the objects that were attached the outside, what they are calling sticks.
“If you look at the images more closely, the sticks merge into the host rock, this actually has features in it that are reminiscent of trace fossils.
“NASA has turned its back on trying to get the data on this.
“The order came down from NASA HQ that they should move the rover on to the next point.
“They didn’t feel it was important enough to look at, I thought that was very odd, despite the fact a gale crater was host to probably a series of lakes for billions and billions of years.
“Crystals don’t add up. Crystals don’t branch or twist. We’re talking about something that might have been equivalent to the Ordovician period on Earth.”
To pursue his case further, Dr DiGregorio has teamed up with two other experts to examine the findings.
He says he will rock NASA with a report that will argue for the findings showing signs of alien life.
Dr DiGregorio has long held the opinion that Mars hosted alien life around one billion years ago in a giant lake.
And he believes the latest findings will strengthen his case further.
He told us: “At this time I’m working with two other experts, and we’re going to prepare a paper, I’m not the only one looking at these things.
“Well we’re going to look at it, and basically a good scientist presents a case.
“If you have been in this as long as I have, to have seen all the things I have seen, with NASA, I would actually say that they are avoiding looking for life.
“Honestly, there are a number of speculations about this.
