In a story that sounds more like science fiction than reality, sources close to SpaceX and NASA now allege that Elon Musk has been secretly funding a $75 million exploratory mission aimed at investigating a newly-revealed, gaping 328-foot-wide hole in the Martian surface — a mysterious geological anomaly that NASA recently dubbed a potential “portal” to an underground world.

Internally at SpaceX, this dark crater has a different, far more ominous name: The Red Gate.

The hole in question was first captured in a high-resolution image by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2017 but only surfaced publicly this year when it was selected for NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. The perfectly rounded opening, surrounded by a shallow crater, is unlike anything previously discovered on the Martian terrain.

NASA itself admitted the hole could connect to “expansive underground caves,” shielded from Mars’ deadly radiation and potentially capable of harboring microbial or even more advanced life.

But long before NASA made this image public, Elon Musk had reportedly been aware of its existence through backchannel access to raw planetary scan data — the kind of access one might expect from a man whose private rockets have repeatedly outpaced national space agencies. Multiple sources within the aerospace community claim that Musk was first briefed on the anomaly in late 2021, following a private data-sharing session between select NASA research staff and high-level engineers at SpaceX.

According to these sources, what followed was one of the most clandestine and ambitious side projects Musk has ever initiated. Utilizing a non-disclosed LLC with ties to xAI — Musk’s experimental artificial intelligence company — he quietly funded the design and development of a next-generation robotic rover equipped with subterranean mapping tools, thermal sensors, and a prototype neural exploration algorithm.

This rover, which sources suggest may already be in the late stages of pre-launch testing, is built specifically to descend into what Musk reportedly calls The Red Gate — a name echoing both awe and apprehension among those involved.

“He believes it’s more than a hole,” one anonymous insider from the xAI team said. “To him, it’s the doorway to a Martian past — or maybe a future.”

Internally, Musk is said to believe that The Red Gate is not just a natural sinkhole or a lava tube, as NASA has speculated. He allegedly theorizes that it could be the collapsed dome of a long-buried city — the ruins of an intelligent civilization that existed millions of years ago when Mars still had a magnetic field and surface water.

Such theories have long been dismissed by mainstream science, but Musk has never shied away from embracing the extraordinary, particularly when it concerns Mars.

His fascination with the Red Planet has always transcended scientific curiosity. For Musk, Mars is destiny — the insurance policy of humanity. Colonization was step one. But if rumors are to be believed, uncovering the truth about the planet’s past may have quietly become step two.

Adding another layer of intrigue is Musk’s supposed involvement in a project dubbed Protocol Genesis, a classified xAI initiative originally thought to be about advanced machine learning on interplanetary systems. However, some insiders now claim that Protocol Genesis was repurposed in 2022 into what Musk now calls his First Contact Engine.

The goal? To develop an AI framework capable of identifying and interpreting signals or relics from non-human intelligence. If something — anything — is found within the depths of the Martian underground, xAI wants to be ready.

Though neither Musk nor any of his companies have officially commented on these claims, breadcrumbs of evidence can be traced through recent public actions. In January 2024, Musk accelerated SpaceX’s Mars launch schedule, announcing plans to send up to five uncrewed Starships to the planet by 2026, two years ahead of NASA’s own proposed timeline for a manned mission.

Notably, these ships were said to be modified with enhanced landing capabilities and autonomous offloading functions — details that align suspiciously well with the needs of a robotic excavation project.

At a recent interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk also dropped a cryptic line that has since gone viral in niche aerospace forums. When asked about what he’d most like to discover on Mars, he paused and said: “A civilization older than ours. That would change everything.” Then he smiled and changed the subject.

What exactly he meant by “change everything” is open to interpretation, but those close to Musk believe he is prepared for a paradigm shift. He has already warned that humanity is on a technological knife’s edge — between extinction and transcendence.

Discovering alien ruins, even fossilized remnants of life, could trigger one of the greatest scientific revolutions in history. It could reshape theology, geopolitics, technology, and the way we see ourselves as a species. And according to the same insiders, that’s precisely what Musk wants.

“He doesn’t want to be the man who colonized Mars,” one former SpaceX engineer said. “He wants to be the man who revealed its true past.”

Naturally, the scientific establishment remains skeptical. NASA maintains that the so-called Red Gate is likely a result of natural geological collapse, perhaps tied to ancient lava tubes. The agency has emphasized caution, noting that without proper equipment and verification, speculation about alien civilizations remains premature and potentially harmful to the integrity of planetary science.

But behind the scenes, interest is heating up. An interagency task force reportedly involving the US Geological Survey and DARPA has begun gathering old seismic data of the Martian crust near the hole.

European scientists working with the ESA’s Mars Express mission are also said to be analyzing sub-surface radar signals that align with the location of the crater.

At the heart of all this attention remains a question no one can yet answer: What lies beneath The Red Gate?

For now, all we know is this — Musk is betting big. He has a track record of doing what others call impossible, from reusable rockets to fully electric supercars. If he truly believes there’s something hidden beneath the Martian soil, it won’t stay hidden for long.

And if he’s right? Then The Red Gate may not just be the entrance to an ancient alien world. It may be the beginning of a new one.