Like everyone else, I am also wondering if there is life on Mars. Recently with the Phoenix mission to explore the planet Mars, researchers have discovered that there’s ice on the red planet. This is fascinating news because where there is water, there is a good chance that there might be or might have been life on Mars.

But for now…there’s one Martian fighting machine on Earth in the town of Woking, located west of Surrey, England. His code name: The Woking Martian. Why they called it The Woking Martian? Simply because Woking was chosen as the location for the sculpture due to its historical connections. H. G. Wells, the author of the novel “The War of the Worlds” lived in the town. This best-known science fiction novel describes an invasion of England by aliens from Mars which has influenced  many people and spawned many films, radio dramas, comic books and even a television series based on the story.

The Woking Martian sculpture was created by Michael Condron and unveiled in April 1998. Made with chrome plated stainless steel this sculpture is 7 meters tall with legs 17 centimeters in diameter. Next to the statue there’s a caption:

THE WOKING MARTIAN 1998 BY MICHEAL CONDRON. THIS SCULPTURE WAS UNVEILED BY THE MAYOR OF WOKING, CLLR. MRS IRENE MATTHEWS APRIL 1998.THIS SCULPTURE IS THE ARTIST’S INTERPRETATION OF A “WALKING ENGINE OF GLITTERING METAL”. IT CELEBRATES WOKING AS THE BIRTHPLACE OF MODERN SCIENCE-FICTION AND MARKS THE CENTENARY OF H.G.WELLS ‘FIRST EDITION OF’ THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. IN THIS PIONEERING NOVEL HUMANITY IS SAVED FROM AN OVERWHELMING MARTIAN INVASION BY EARTH’S SMALLEST CREATURES, BACTERIA.

Source: Flickr [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]