This Mars Orbiter, which was launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on November 5, 2013 has spotted what looks like a mushroom cloud on the planet’s surface.

Taken by the onboard Mars Colour Camera (MCC), these images have been quickly uploaded to the ISRO’s website, with a great amount of detail.

The large mushroom cloud was sighted in the Valles Marineris Canyon, which is located along the equator of the planet, which spans close to a quarter of the planet’s circumference.

Looking like something out of a nuclear explosion, there looks to be a crater formed underneath the cloud. There isn’t a logical explanation at this point about the cause of the cloud. There are many speculations swirling around of it being an actual nuclear mushroom cloud.

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There is a book called Death on Mars: The Discovery of a Planetary Nuclear Massacre, written by Dr John Brandenburg. In this book, there is a telling of an epic story which suggest a full-scale war between ancient alien civilizations , and this mushroom cloud could be evidence of the result of a massacre, which has left isotopic traces of vast explosions, that took place a very long time ago, which we are now starting to see evidence of. The book goes on to speculate how Mars was once similar to Earth in its climate, and became home to both plant and animal life governed by some sort of humanoid civilization, which have now been destroyed.

Another explanations is that of when comet Siding Spring passed very close to Mars on October 19,2014, which could of somehow been the cause of the massive explosion on the red planet.

For now, we may not know the exact cause of this event, taken by the ISRO on the planet. There still are many unanswered questions about this event, to which we may never understand. For now, all we have to go by, are these incredible photos that were taken.