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Star gazers have mused over the existence of life on the Red Planet for decades.

NASA has spent billions hunting for traces – with one expert claiming aliens “do exist” and will be found within the next 10 years.

Meanwhile, US president Barack Obama, Space X billionaire Elon Musk and aerospace giant Boeing are all scrambling to put the first humans on Mars.

But according to several space program “whistleblowers”, they lost the race decades ago.

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Self-styled US space program insider Corey Goode claims mankind has already stepped foot on the planet – and has been living there since the 1970s.

In a statement he said: “Mars was first visited by the Germans as far back as the 1930s, but during the 70s, US space programs were actively exploring Mars and other planets to establish bases.

“In 1980 the US SSP became – Solar Warden. Under Project Solar Warden vast development and colonization occurred on Mars and other planets.

“Bases on Mars were built under the surface.”

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Although many skeptics have described the claims as “ludicrous”, conspiracy theorists believe accounts from former US-Navy insider William Tompkins give them credibility.

He said: “During my tenure in the Navy, we discovered that the Germans had been inventing space technology since the early 20th century.”

Even more unbelievable are the claims of a former NASA employee named “Jackie”, who apparently spoke of humans on mars, MirrorSpecrum reported.

She supposedly described seeing two men in space suits that looked “protective” and alleged that NASA employees had been discussing humans on Mars for years.

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The revelation comes after a new study revealed NASA may have found life on Mars 40 years ago – but ignored the “faulty” evidence.

NASA’s viking lander found evidence that something was producing carbon dioxide after taking carbon samples in 1976.

Scientists since dismissed the experiment as “inconclusive”.

But now Gilbert Levin, an original viking scientists, claims that the experiments show that “life is a strong possibility”.

The findings come as a robotic spacecraft is set to touch down on Mars today in the hunt for alien life.