(Image source: NBC News ) BY STEVEN SPARKMAN ANCHOR ZACH TOOMBS Right before Thanksgiving, the Mars rover team set the science world buzzing with rumors of a major discovery on Mars. It all started with an interview between an NPR reporter and Mars rover researcher John Grotzinger. Grotzinger: “This data is going to be one for the history books. It's looking really good.” Palca: “Grotzinger can see the pained look on my face as I wait, hoping he'll tell me what the heck he's found.” Grotzinger: “I know I'm killing you.” And when NASA says a Mars mission found something big, everyone goes to the same place: evidence of life. (Via PC Magazine , Statesman Journal ) But apparently the whole thing was just a big misunderstanding. NBC has a followup interview with Grotzinger. Grotzinger: “We are getting closer to understanding what it takes, how to explore systematically for organic compounds.” Taibbi: “But not yet proof of life?” Grotzinger: “Definitely not proof of life.” Well, that’s a letdown. So how did the story get so out of control? Mashable did some digging and says it all started with miscommunication. “What Grotzinger was actually trying to convey is that Curiosity’s data over her entire two-year mission will further our knowledge of Mars more than ever before, making it a historical mission.” And a NASA spokesperson told Slate :  “The short story on NPR was there when the first soil results were hitting the ground and the team was ecstatic to see data.” In fact, the team says they tried to correct the story on Curiosity’s Twitter feed , but the message was drowned out by speculation over what the rover had found . So is there actually anything exciting in the data? Maybe, but unless you’re a geophysicist you probably wouldn’t understand it. The New York Times reports the results will be presented at Monday’s meeting of the American Geophysical Union, and NASA says the findings will be interesting, not earthshattering.