The Most Mysterious Mars Photos

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• published: 21 Sep 2015
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Presenting the five most mysterious pictures from Mars, including a strange blotch spotted by NASA's Curiosity rover only seconds after landing on the Red Planet, mysterious possibly artificial lights seeming to shine up from underground, the Mars monolith, massive holes and underground caverns that could harbor life, and a strange collections of photos that seem to show impossible scenes from a humanoid to a rabbit to signs of ancient civilization, and even trees... These incredible photos are real, but what about our interpretations? Do they show signs of bizarre alien life or are we simply seeing what we want to see? 1. Mars Yeti Does this photo show a humanoid extraterrestrial roaming the surface of Mars or is it simply a product of our evolutionary heritage? Humans have developed a remarkable talent for pattern recognition – a phenomenon known as “paredolia”. We have been identifying patterns on Mars for decades, starting with Shiaparelli’s discovery of “canals” on Mars in 1877. And continuing with the infamous Mars Face discovered by the Viking orbiter in 1976. Photos from the surface of Mars have resulted in numerous other cases of pareidolia like the Mars rabbit, ruins of civilization, and even “trees”. So what is real and what is the product of our imagination? We might have to wait to see for ourselves. After all, seeing is believing. 2. Caverns The surface of Mars has been thoroughly studied in the decades since NASA’s Mariner 4 probe first flew by the red planet in 1965. Yet it continues to yield new surprises like this deep cavern at the bottom of a crater. One of the first giant holes was discovered by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2007. At more than 490 feet wide, this hole and others like it are thought to be collapsed lava tubes. But how extensive are the caverns below and what lies deep within? Protected from the harsh conditions of the Martian surface, scientists have marked them as good candidates to harbor life, and serve as habitats for future astronauts. 3. Monolith In 2012, amateur astronomers discovered a strange object jutting out from the surface of Mars, one mysteriously paralleling the alien monoliths left on Earth and the moon in the classic sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Identified in a photograph taken by the HiRISE camera mounted on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it passed 180 miles overhead, the structure is estimated to be 5 meters across. Scientists say the object is likely a boulder that “has been created by breaking away from the bedrock to create a rectangular-shaped feature”. Some aren’t so sure of the object’s origin, and astronaut Buzz Aldrin has encouraged exploration of a similar monolith on the Martian moon Phobos. 4. Mystery Light On April 3, 2014, Curiosity’s 589th day on Mars, a bright beam of light appeared behind the dunes in one of rover’s daily photos. Shining upward from the surface, UFO enthusiasts claimed that the light “could indicate there is intelligent life below the ground.” The light appears in an image taken by the “right eye” of the rover’s stereo camera, yet it doesn’t appear in images taken seconds later by the camera’s “left eye”. The source of the light has yet to be identified, but NASA officials have put forth theories including glare from a “glinty rock”, sunlight leaking directly into the camera’s inner sensor through a vent hole, and even a cosmic ray hitting the camera. Whatever the cause, it will also need to explain the fact that the same light was later found in an earlier photo taken at a different angle. 5. The Blotch Following a 350 million mile 253-day journey NASA’s car-sized Curiosity robotic rover was lowered on to the surface of Mars from its landing module where it would snap this intriguing photo with its rear Hazcam navigation cameras only seconds after touching down. The camera shutter had only been open for 20 milliseconds when it captured a fuzzy photo showing a mysterious blotch on the horizon. 2 hours later, high resolution photos became available when a satellite passed overhead to relay the images. The blotch had disappeared. The photo prompted conspiracy theories involving alien intelligence and government coverups, but the truth may be equally amazing. Called a “statistical impossibility” the photo is now thought to capture the moment Curiosity’s lander crashed into the Martian surface.