NASA sued by Rhawn Joseph for failing to examine alien life on Mars

NASA is being sued by a self-described scientist for failing to investigate "alien life" on the planet Mars after a rock mysteriously appeared.

ITS appearance initially baffled scientists at NASA, the US space agency.

A strange oddly-shaped white rock mysteriously appeared in images taken less than two weeks apart by NASA's Mars rover Opportunity, which is looking for signs of past water , the space agency reported on January 17.

When NASA's Opportunity rover took an image of the site on January 8 the white rock was clearly visible yet two weeks earlier it sent back images of barren rock.

News_Image_File: Captured a white rock two weeks after there was none visible ... An artist's rendering released by NASA shows the NASA rover Opportunity on the surface of Mars. Picture: AP

Yet NASA said the appearance of the rock was straightforward - perhaps nearby impact sent the rock toward the rover, or, most likely, Opportunity knocked the rock from the ground and no one noticed until later.

NASA's claims don't wash with self-described scientist and author Rhawn Joseph.

He has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court Northern District of California claiming the white rock was a living thing and is seeking an order forcing NASA and its Administrator, Charles Boulden, to investigate the rock more diligently.

Joseph, who is aligned with the online Journal of Cosmology, seeks NASA to "perform a public, scientific, and statutory duty which is to closely photograph and thoroughly scientifically examine and investigate a putative biological organism."

Joseph does not believe it to be a rock.

"When examined by Petitioner the same structure in miniature was clearly visible upon magnification and appears to have just germinated from spores."

The "rock," according to the lawsuit, was there the whole time, it just grew until it became visible.

"The refusal to take close up photos from various angles, the refusal to take microscopicimages of the specimen, the refusal to release high resolution photos, is inexplicable, recklessly negligent, and bizarre," the lawsuit alleged.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN ALIEN LIFE? COMMENT BELOW

NASA has identified it as a rock, with rare properties.

SCIENTISTS CLAIM TO HAVE PROOF OF ALIEN LIFE

SCIENTIFIC PROOF HUMANS WERE CREATED BY ALIENS

SPACED OUT UFO FAN DEEP FROZEN "ALIEN"

FARTS WILL LEAD US TO LIFE: SCIENTISTS

News_Rich_Media: Centaurus A is a giant elliptical active galaxy 12 million light years away. In the radio image of the galaxy's core, the black hole is invisible but the jets show in great detail. Courtesy: NASA Goddard