The meteorite you're referring to is called ALH84001, and it was found in Antarctica in 1984, not 1996. It caused a huge stir in the scientific community because it contained tiny, elongated, and tubular structures that some scientists initially interpreted as possible evidence of past microbial life on Mars.

These structures were nanometer-scale, meaning they were incredibly small, even smaller than bacteria. They resembled fossilized bacteria known as nanobacteria found on Earth.

However, the claim of Martian life was met with considerable skepticism, and the evidence has been widely debated. While the shapes are intriguing, they can also be explained by non-biological processes, such as mineral formation.

So, while the tiny shapes in ALH84001 look like fossilized bacteria, their origin remains a mystery and a subject of ongoing scientific research.