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As far as conspiracy theories go , the idea that a hidden slave colony could exist on Mars is certainly one of the most far-fetched.

But that's exactly what is proposed by a guest on InfoWars, the far-right news website run by 'shock jock' radio host Alex Jones .

And a spokesperson for NASA has had to clarify the fact that there are not, nor have ever been, human beings on Mars.

According to the Daily Beast , Robert David Steele a former CIA case officer appeared on Jones' show to talk about kidnapped children. Steele, who runs his own conspiracy theory blog, proposed that kids have been secretly shipped to the red planet over the last two decades to live as slaves.

“We actually believe that there is a colony on Mars that is populated by children who were kidnapped and sent into space on a 20-year ride,” Steele said.

“So that once they get to Mars they have no alternative but to be slaves on the Mars colony.”

Jones agreed, stating that 90% of NASA's missions are secret and the space agency doesn't want people looking too closely.

In response, a NASA official gave a curt statement to the Daily Beast .

(Image: Getty)

“There are no humans on Mars. There are active rovers on Mars. There was a rumor going around last week that there weren’t. There are,” Guy Webster, a spokesperson for Mars exploration at NASA told the site.

“But there are no humans.”

Interestingly, the editor of InfoWars, Paul Watson, took to Twitter to shoot down the Daily Beast's report.

"No one who works for Infowars said this," he stated.

The US media spat about human slaves on Mars comes only days after pictures began circulating supposedly showing alien bones on the planet's surface.

The "discovery" was made after poring through pictures beamed back from NASA's Curiosity rover.

(Image: Martian Archaeology/Youtube)

The rover is currently exploring the rocky surface of the distant planet and makes all its images free to view in the public domain.

The images began circulating after they were featured in an online video entitled "Fossilized Bones, Petrified Wood, Fungus & Lichen, Growth & Movement, Life on Mars."

It was the Martian Archaeology channel and immediately seized on by those believing extra terrestrials could have once lived on the planet.

"After years of research and study, I'm convinced now, more then ever, that there much more to Mars then what NASA admits to," posted a user named TJ Devereaux.

"I'm certain life, including water, and intelligent life forms, once occupied the planet, and... big leap here... that both still exist, in much smaller quantities."

(Image: NASA / JPL)

Even though NASA has reputedly denied any kind of life on Mars, plans are moving ahead to send the first manned mission there.

NASA has said a human mission to Mars is “closer than ever before” predicting the first foot will be placed on the famous red planet in the next 14 years.

The US space agency ’s chief, former astronaut Charles Bolden, made the claim saying landing on it is essential to ensure the survival of our species.

"We think we're on the right trajectory to get humans to Mars in the 2030's," he said.

Speaking on America’s CNBC's "On the Money” programme he said he is now confident NASA's 'Journey to Mars' will be accomplished because the past 50 years of missions act as a precursor to the mission to the red planet.

He added the mission is “critically important” to the understanding of our own planet due to the similarities between Mars and Earth pointing to each having the same amount of dry land, with seasons, weather and volcanoes.