Bones, balls, people, and more – what’s with all the anomalous objects spotted on the surface of Mars?
As quickly as NASA publishes unbelievably detailed photographs of the Martian surface, people back home find odd and unusual objects within those photos. Of course NASA always discounts the newfound anomalous objects as “natural rock formations”. Matters were clouded in early 2014 when observant researchers found “before and after” photos proving that NASA occasionally “cleans up” some of their photos (and videos). NASA calmly explained that in some instances, camera imperfections must be corrected using software – like Photoshop. Still, despite NASA’s proven manipulation of the Mars photographs, eagle-eyed researchers continue finding unusual anomalies in the photographs of the Martian surface and ask “Have you *ever* in your life seen a natural rock formation on Earth that looks like that?”
Here are a collection of some of the unusual sights found on Mars to date.
The Thigh Bone
Resembling a fossilized femur bone, this odd object was explained by NASA as a “shiny-looking rock” that had been sculpted by erosion (either wind or water). Others however pointed out the impossibility of wind and erosion shaping a rock in such a bizarre manner. The Thigh Bone was found on the Red Planet in August 2014.
The Rodent or Mars Rat
Looking like a mouse or squirrel laying on its stomach, the Mars Rat was captured (on film) by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity in September 2012 and generated a lot of Internet interest after viewers noted the features – eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, legs – of the cute little creature were easily discernible.
The lizard
This one’s a bit tougher to explain as a rock as the features are very clear and include a long, thin tail which seemingly would be an impossible shape to be formed by natural erosion. The object was reportedly discovered by a Japanese researcher in March 2013 and appears to show a tail, four legs, and other obvious characteristics of a lizard.
The frozen woman
Photographed by the NASA rover Spirit, this frozen woman perched on a rock had many wondering if the rain of fire over Sodom and Gomorrah took place on Mars instead. The photo looks remarkably like a female figure with an outstretched arm. The image was sent back to Earth by the Mars Spirit rover in 2008.
The Iguana
The Iguana was discovered by an eagle-eyed enthusiast on November 6, 2013 in photos taken by the Mars Curiosity rover. NASA was informed of the finding but refused to turn the rover back to investigate further. At the time, some began to wonder if NASA were purposefully planting life on the Red Planet.
The Ball
Shaped like a perfect sphere, the Ball was discovered late in 2014 by the Curiosity rover on sol 746 atop a rocky outcrop. The perfectly round object sits atop a flat rock and looks like a dirty cannonball. NASA explained it as “concretion”.
The Martian Totem pole
Maybe not a totem pole (or traffic stoplight) but what is this bizarre structure and is there any natural formation comparable to it on Earth?
The Jelly Donut
The Jelly Donut wasn’t known as much for its unusual appearance as the fact that it appeared on Mars during a 12-day period when Opportunity wasn’t looking. The unusual object simply materialized out of thin air right in front of Opportunity.
Skulls on Mars
Several instances of skulls, both human and animal, have reportedly been found on the Martian surface. Below are a few notable instances.
The Golden Disc
The Golden Disc was discovered in December 2014 in NASA’s photojournal (PIA17083) and featured a disc-shaped object nestled between a pair of rocks. It stood out not only because of its unusual shape, but its shiny, golden hue which clearly indicated it was some sort of alien metallic object sitting on the surface of Mars.
The face on Mars
And who could forget the 1976 image of the Face on Mars which was later explored by NASA and explained as a natural rock formation.
In conclusion: whether you believe it to be the human mind’s tendency to find patterns in randomness, or ruins of an ancient civilization, you can’t deny, there’s some weird shit on Mars.
Elon Musk has built a US$12 billion company in an endeavour to pave the way to Mars for humanity. He insists that Mars is a “long-term insurance policy” for “the light of consciousness” in the face of climate change, extinction events, and our recklessness with technology.
On the other hand, astronaut Chris Hadfield is sceptical: “Humanity is not going extinct,” he told me. He added:
There’s no great compelling reason to go, apart from curiosity, and that’s not going to be enough to sustain the immense cost necessary with the technology that exists right now.
But I question our future, stuck here on Earth. Our environment is a highly balanced system and we are the destabilising element. Pursuing “green” initiatives is no long-term solution to the wall we’re hurtling towards, they’re speed bumps. If this is where humankind is destined to remain, then we shall find ourselves fighting over whatever is left of it.
Politically speaking, sending humans into space brings nations together – the International Space Station stood as the physical manifestation of the reunification of the USA and Russia and is now a platform for broader international co-operation.
Space exploration is also inspiring: during NASA’s Apollo programme to the Moon, the number of graduates in mathematics, engineering and the sciences in the US doubled. Igniting the imagination of that generation helped propel the US into the dominant position it’s held since the 1960s. What could a Mars programme do?
Mars is often described as the “Red Planet” due to its reddish appearance, however, the combination of dust particles and atmospheric conditions on Mars make for some unusual sunset colors; both the sun’s disk and the sky surrounding the sun appear blue at sunset.
Mars has a thin atmosphere that is dominated by dust; the reddish color of the sky is caused by the fine red dust (oxidized iron) that is suspended in the Martian atmosphere, the blue glow surrounding the sun is created by light scattered at small angles by the very same dust particles. While the disk of the sun would only appear blue at sunset, when the optical path is longest, or when sunlight passes through a larger amount of dust, e.g. during a dust storm, the blue glow around the sun should be visible throughout the Martian day.
now that im in the space mood i’d like to remind each and every one of you that NASA drew a dick on mars. we drew a dick on another planet. that is mankind’s legacy.
After a marathon 780-million-kilometre journey, India has not only arrived at Mars this week – it has entered the elite club of planetary explorers and kicked an Asian space race into high gear. By successfully going into orbit around Mars, India has become the first Asian nation in history to do so, says Pallava Bagla, one of India’s leading space exploration analysts. “We really consider this a nationalist mission since it is taking India to Mars,” Bagla told Yahoo Canada News in an interview.
Our solar system officially has eight planets and one star: the Sun. The discovery of an object larger than Pluto in 2005 rekindled the debate over whether such objects, belonging to the Kuiper Belt – a collection of icy bodies located beyond Neptune – should be called planets. Pluto and other large members of the Kuiper Belt are now considered “dwarf planets.”
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