'Rat' on Mars

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Recently a lot of people have been talking about a 'Rat' on Mars, so I thought I'd show you what all the fuss is about. To see this supposed 'rat' click on the first image for the high resolution version from NASA then zoom in on the upper left corner. See anything?

Click on the image for the High Resolution version from NASA then zoom in on the upper left corner. See anything?

What you might think is an animal is actually a psychological phenomena called pareidolia where your brain interprets vague objects as familiar shapes, or in this case, an animal.  This is an evolutionary trait in humans that once allowed us to easily identify predators on the horizon because we could easily identify their faces and features

In case you can't find the 'rat' in the photo above, I've included the zoomed in and circled version that Huffington Post compiled from UFO Sightings Daily below. UFO Sightings Daily was the first to report on the 'rat'.

While I believe this 'rat' on Mars is simply pareidolia, yet again on Mars, I leave it up to you to decide whether it is a 'rat' or simply your mind playing a trick on you. 

Mars Photo of the Day - Apr 5 2012

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Today's Image of Mars shows what we call a pareidolia, where you see something that isn't really there. This happens because the mind tries to associate everything it sees with something familiar so that it can understand it better. In this case many people looking at this will see an elephant (or if you didn't you probably do now).

Click on this image to see the original image from HiRISE.
[See the HiRISE caption for the image]

One the most famous pareidolia on Mars is the Face on Mars.

This image is actually a lava flow in Elysium Planitia, the youngest lava-flood province on Mars. Elysium Planitia is almost entirely covered by lava flows, which made the the region almost entirely flat. The lava flows are so young that the surface has not been checkered with numerous impact craters like most of the Martian surface. The lava flows erased all evidence of prior impacts by filling in the craters.

See All Mars Photo of the Day Posts!

Mars Photo of the Day - Jan 9 2012

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Today's Image of Mars is of the Face on Mars, one of the most famous pareidolias on Mars.

In 1976 the Viking I Orbiter was taking photos of possible landing sites for Viking II when it took the below shot of what looked like a human face. Scientists quickly realized this 'face' for what it was, a mesa with irregular shadows that at the right angle made it look like the face of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.

The Face on Mars soon captured the public interest, but what many people don't realize is that NASA wanted that to happen. They initially published the photo with a caption "huge rock formation ... which resembles a human head ... formed by shadows giving the illusion of eyes, nose and mouth." They the created a public relations campaign around The Face on Mars. According to NASA "the authors [of the initial caption] reasoned it would be a good way to engage the public and attract attention to Mars." They were successful - perhaps too successful.

 The public became fascinated by The Face on Mars, with some theorizing it was an alien artifact being covered up by NASA. NASA felt it was important to dispatch these claims, so they imaged it with the Mars Global Surveyor in 1998 and 2001. [See those images in this NASA article]

Regardless of evidence, there will always be people that wish to believe in conspiracy, so NASA hasn't convinced them all, despite having a high resolution image of The Face. NASA has even pointed out they would have no reason to deny a civilization on Mars because their budget would surely increase if one was discovered. Alas, the Face on Mars is just one of many mesas in the Cydonia region of Mars.

Clicking on this image will take you to the 2001 article about the Face on Mars and the various images taken of it.

See All Mars Photo of the Day Posts!