Strange object on Mars

[Explorer]

Would anybody like to hazard a guess as to what this could be.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gall...1_2x-B009R1.jpg

[Yahweh]

Originally posted by Explorer
Would anybody like to hazard a guess as to what this could be.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gall...1_2x-B009R1.jpg
Your link is broken...

In the mean time, how long do you think it will be before this (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040215a/x_pubeng_approved_021004_whiteboat_RGB_pancam.jpg) turns into an alien skull:

[Correa Neto]

I must have a serious cognitive problem... I never see anything abnormal in Mars (or Moon) images.

[Darat]

Originally posted by Explorer
Would anybody like to hazard a guess as to what this could be.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gall...1_2x-B009R1.jpg

Not trying to state the obvious but a picture of the surface of Mars?

Is the picture Yahweh links to the one you meant and if so any particular bit of it we are meant to be looking at.

[Hand Bent Spoon]

In Yahweh's picture, it looks like one of the rocks is in the shape of the top of a monkey/hominid skull. I'm going to hazard a very wild uneducated guess and say it's a rock, though.;)

Then again, I could be part of a conspiracy...

[Bottle or the Gun]

It's a rock. What's the scale of the items in the photo? What is the context? Many of the pictures I thought were of fair sized rocks were 1 cm pebbles. It reminds me of the martian mountain that looked like a hominid face until a camera with greater detail took a photo of it. You can't accurately judge what you are looking at without better info. To ascribe humanoid features to a hill that was taken by a camera that can't define anything smaller than a kilometer is silly.

Besides, if the recent photo was of a skull, would it be made public? Hell, no. Proof of life on other worlds? The religious types would go insane(er). I would like to believe such evidence would intrigue us, but I'm too cynical. What is more likely to happen is that the crazies would flip out, start ranting about satan and drink special kool-aid by the thousands. Funding would dry up for fear of upsetting some voter on Walton mountain. Unless that is the plan....keep saying alien life doesn't exist until it is too late to deny it, because the evidence is as obvious and prevalent as crabgrass. Yeah.

You are aware that there are two transmission coming from the mars probes, right? One transmission is raw data available only to the shadow cabinet and the other is 'clean' data edited for the average person.

[Tricky]

(sigh) It's at times like this when I really miss Jedi.

[ceptimus]

rock.

[King of the Americas]

...human exploration of the unknown.

I think it is the most worthy pursuit we can partake in.

That we now have pictures of another world's surface detailed enough to see what MIGHT be a humaniod skull sticking out of the ground is AWESOME...

It probably isn't, but it is genuinely exciting to think about the possibility.

*Note: There is a similiar rock located in a smaller version at the top middle of the full image.

[Keziah Mason]

Rock.


Besides, if the recent photo was of a skull, would it be made public? Hell, no. Proof of life on other worlds? The religious types would go insane(er).


A few years ago it was very clearly announced that researchers thought they found evidence of life in a Martian meteorite. Another researcher has announced that he believes that one of the Viking experiments show some evidence of life.

These are, of course, contested announcements, but nonetheless they were made and no panic has resulted.

If evidence of life is found by NASA I am sure it will be released (hey, it would solve all the budget problems in an instant).

I think that except for the most hardcore fundies, most religious folks won't be too put out by the existance of bacteria or even non-intelligent animal life on another planet.


I would like to believe such evidence would intrigue us, but I'm too cynical. What is more likely to happen is that the crazies would flip out, start ranting about satan and drink special kool-aid by the thousands.


Well, that would solve some problems, now wouldn't it?


Funding would dry up for fear of upsetting some voter on Walton mountain. Unless that is the plan....keep saying alien life doesn't exist until it is too late to deny it, because the evidence is as obvious and prevalent as crabgrass. Yeah.


The purpose of MER is to look for signs of past water that may indicate that Mars once had or has life. The only goal of ill-fated Beagle II was to find life. If someone is afraid of finding life on Mars then it seems strange to be sending all these spacecraft.

[Bottle or the Gun]

The ones that keep breaking? It's like they want to fail.

"Test the Hubble mirror for clarity before sending it up into space? Why would we do that?"

[Keziah Mason]

Originally posted by Bottle or the Gun
The ones that keep breaking? It's like they want to fail.


There are currently three orbiters operating very well and two rovers also doing quite well. Are you seriously suggesting that NASA is sending millions of dollars of equipment into space and hoping it fails?

In any case, the announcement of life on another planet has already been made. While it is not currently well accepted in the scientific community, the research was done and presented to the public.



"Test the Hubble mirror for clarity before sending it up into space? Why would we do that?"

Too small a budget results in tests skipped or not performed.

[Checkmite]

Originally posted by ceptimus
rock.

paper

[Rolfe]

Stone.





(never did have any self-restraint)




Rolfe.

[Soapy Sam]

I cannot link to any of the listed versions of this URL. Clearly some people can. Is it only visible in the USA? On Mars?
Is it a sexcurity issue? Can anyone post an alternative link?

[Bottle or the Gun]

Originally posted by Keziah Mason


There are currently three orbiters operating very well and two rovers also doing quite well. Are you seriously suggesting that NASA is sending millions of dollars of equipment into space and hoping it fails?


In any case, the announcement of life on another planet has already been made. While it is not currently well accepted in the scientific community, the research was done and presented to the public.

Junk science.




Too small a budget results in tests skipped or not performed. [/B]

And then spend millions fixing it.

[Brown]

Flip the image by 180 degrees and the illusion disappears.

[Explorer]

Sorry folks, the link doesn't work.

The picture is not the one Yahweh linked. This rather like a rabbit-like object with long ears(as you would expect from a rabbit-like object), situated a few yards from the rover in total isolation in the red soil laying on the surface without much of an indentation. It is probably debris from one of the soft landing balloons, but it does look very animal like. No time at present to get the link back, but I shall work on it asap.

regards

Explorer

[Bottle or the Gun]

I think this is it, found on google web search. if link doesn't work just Google 'B009R1.jpg' Found it right away. Very hi-res! Click on the photo to open it.

Google Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=B009R1.jpg&btnG=Google+Search

Panoramic image
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040202a/MSPan_B1_2x-B009R1.jpg

And here is the close up
http://www.copperas.com/astro/bunny.jpg

[Soapy Sam]

Fulgurite fragment?

[NightG1]

These guys (http://www.martiancrabs.com/) seem to have a take on the "artifact".

[hgc]

Damn! That's where I left my car keys.

[!Xx+-Rational-+xX!]

This is simple the camera hallucinated! Dismissed! Next?

[WildCat]

Holy crap! Look what I found on mars:


http://home.mindspring.com/~turniton/catsonmars.jpg


If this doesn't convince you skeptics, I don't know what will! :D

[Explorer]

NightG1

Yes, that is the object of this thread.

Thanks for that, it has saved me the trouble.

The colour check in my opinion would have been better carried out as a comparison with the deflated balloon material, and not the rock. It does appear to be light as no indentations can be seen around the object in the soil. This soil is extremely fine, like the consistency of flour and takes up impressions very easily. My theory is that it just floated down gently, and therefore more likely to be balloon debris.

[scribble]

Well, I took a look at the picture, and I couldn't tell you what that thing is.

But I can tell you I couldn't tell you what it is.

And I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say if there's anything cool to be found on mars, it's going to be something really evident, not something we find in just one blurry photo.

[Yahweh]

Originally posted by Yahweh

Your link is broken...

In the mean time, how long do you think it will be before this (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040215a/x_pubeng_approved_021004_whiteboat_RGB_pancam.jpg) turns into an alien skull:
Well who'd a thunk (http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/aliens_story.cfm?instanceid=60632)...

[Keziah Mason]

Originally posted by Bottle or the Gun


junk science


You're the one making the claim that the government would never make a statement indicating the existance of life on another planet.

A claim that I say is completely wrong for reasons I have indicated. That statement has already been made in a NASA press conference. Your claim has been falsified.

I would also like to see any proof you have of your claim of two separate data streams from the spacecraft (sorry, I missed this earlier or I would have jumped on it) or the existance of any sort of 'shadow cabinet'. I can state that no such things exist and the raw images you see are indeed the raw images. Of course, I now expect to be called part of the conspiracy :rolleyes:

[King of the Americas]

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040202a/MSPan_B1_2x-B009R1.jpg

---

...very closely.

[HarryKeogh]

Originally posted by Yahweh

Well who'd a thunk (http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/aliens_story.cfm?instanceid=60632)...

also in this issue

PRINCESS DIANA IS ALIVE!
NORTH KOREAN MISSION TO THE SUN!
WHAT OUR WORLD WILL BE LIKE IN 100 YEARS!
MAN'S KIDNEY STONE IS $1 MILLION DIAMOND!
Plus Dotti, Ed Anger, The Page 5 Girl and Sonya.

ummm, didn't the Polish Space Administration land a man on the Sun back in 94?

(I'm Polish so I can make these jokes)

(ok, I'm not really Polish but let's face it, Poles probably can't read this anyway)

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by King of the Americas
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040202a/MSPan_B1_2x-B009R1.jpg

---

...very closely. Don't hold us in suspense, that picture is huge. Is it the balloon tracks you're looking at?

[ceptimus]

Originally posted by Hexxenhammer
Don't hold us in suspense, that picture is huge. Is it the balloon tracks you're looking at? I had a good look at it (I have broadband).

There are loads of 'rock outcrops' near the top od the photo, showing through the sandy surface. They are exactly the same colour as 'the rabbit' which is much lower down. I guess 'the rabit' is just an isolated outcrop.

Over on the right hand side of the photo, are a whole set of circular impressions in the sand, some with 'crows feet' Y shaped marks inside them. I guess these were made by the final bounces and rolls of the airbag-covered lander, before it came to a standstill.

Interesting photo.

[HarryKeogh]

Originally posted by Hexxenhammer
Don't hold us in suspense, that picture is huge. Is it the balloon tracks you're looking at?

Hex, if you shrink the picture down (so you can see the whole image) and look slightly to the right of center and about midway between the top and bottom of the photo there is a rock that resembles a insect/crab thing.

[King of the Americas]

...it is a different color than the other rocks in the picture.

I know it is big, just be patient, the results are incredible.

[Keziah Mason]

Originally posted by King of the Americas
...it is a different color than the other rocks in the picture.


Actually, it looks a lot like the lighter colored bedrock. I would say it's either bedrock sticking up through the sand or a chunk of bedrock broken off, either by the bouncing airbag or just natural weathering, which then rolled down to where it is now.

[Correa Neto]

Geez, people, have you never seen those Bugs Bunny cartoons where he goes to Mars and meets Marvin the Martian?

Ok,
- It casts a shadow (at least it seems to) on the ground that seems to correlate with the "ear", so its something "material" and not some processing glitch;
- its color is similar to the rocks on the background (nice layers, BTW), so I would bet its a rock.
- But, since its blurry, I can not escape the conclusion that its an UFO.

[King of the Americas]

I won't say that it isn't what you suggest, but I think the ONLY evidence that you have, that it is what you say it is, is purely speculative.

It COULD be anything, and something that surely looks interesting enough to warrant further investigation.

[alfaniner]

Originally posted by King of the Americas
...
It COULD be anything, and something that surely looks interesting enough to warrant further investigation.

It couldn't be a McDonald's paper bag. It couldn't be a 747. It couldn't be a piece of PVC pipe. It couldn't be my left... ear.

It could be... a rock.

[King of the Americas]

...be the remains of an alien horned battle beetle left over from a HUGE War between the round eyed ape looking creatures, in the other images, and themselves.

Do you characterize all possible fossils as rocks in general, or just the ones on Mars that seem to demonstrate semetrical features?

Now, I am NOT say it is... I am just saying that sure looks like something 'I' want a closer look at.:)

[Soapy Sam]

I doubt we can rely on colour as an accurate guide.

When you find spiky things in the sand in terrestrial deserts, they are usually trace fossils of some sort.

The only non-organically caused thing that commonly has branching structure and occurs in sand deserts is a fulgurite, caused by fusing of sand into glass when lightning hits the surface. I see no reason why fulgurites could not occur on Mars.

Other chemical (ie non organic) processes also can result in cementation of material infilling cracks. If the cement is harder than the sediment around it, it may be weathered out like this.

Either that or it's a goat skull.

[Bottle or the Gun]

Originally posted by Keziah Mason

I would also like to see any proof you have of your claim of two separate data streams from the spacecraft (sorry, I missed this earlier or I would have jumped on it) or the existance of any sort of 'shadow cabinet'. I can state that no such things exist and the raw images you see are indeed the raw images. Of course, I now expect to be called part of the conspiracy :rolleyes:

More like unwitting lackey. :i:

[Keziah Mason]

Bottle or the Gun, I ask you again: do you have any proof of your claims? Otherwise, I see no reason to take your "shadow cabinet" talk seriously.

[Keziah Mason]

Originally posted by Soapy Sam

When you find spiky things in the sand in terrestrial deserts, they are usually trace fossils of some sort.


I don't think the picture is clear enough to determine if this is a spiky thing resting on top of the ground or a non-spiky thing with sand covering to make it look spiky.

[Bottle or the Gun]

Originally posted by Keziah Mason
Bottle or the Gun, I ask you again: do you have any proof of your claims? Otherwise, I see no reason to take your "shadow cabinet" talk seriously.

It's not supposed to.

[S. D. Youngren]

I think the bunny picture is more significant. I've had pet rabbits, and if they're anything to go by, I know why certain of the landers have failed.

NASA needs to bunny-proof their wiring. The critters have obviously been just munching it up.

[Thumbo]

Originally posted by Yahweh

Your link is broken...

In the mean time, how long do you think it will be before this (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040215a/x_pubeng_approved_021004_whiteboat_RGB_pancam.jpg) turns into an alien skull:
Looks like a frog to me.

[Keziah Mason]

Originally posted by Bottle or the Gun


It's not supposed to.

What does the "It" refer to?

Are you being a woo-woo, a sarcastic rendition of a woo-woo, or just a troll?

[c0rbin]

It puts the lotion on and then it puts it in the basket.

[Bottle or the Gun]

Originally posted by Keziah Mason


What does the "It" refer to?

Are you being a woo-woo, a sarcastic rendition of a woo-woo, or just a troll?

You are not supposed to take the 'shadow cabinet' seriously. There are no conspirancies, no aliens, only a huge beauracracy where left-hand and right-hand don't know what the other is doing. MAYBE my SARCASM wasn't CLEAR ENOUGH for you.

PS: 'Troll'? I thought that was what you were doing.

[Keziah Mason]

Originally posted by Bottle or the Gun


You are not supposed to take the 'shadow cabinet' seriously. There are no conspirancies, no aliens, only a huge beauracracy where left-hand and right-hand don't know what the other is doing. MAYBE my SARCASM wasn't CLEAR ENOUGH for you.


Yeah, that's right, get mad when someone doesn't get your sarcasm.

There are plenty of people who make statements just like yours and believe them. It just confuses the issue if you carry on your "sarcasm" far too long or don't include a wink or smile in your post.

But congratulations - I had you completely confused with a Hoagland fanatic. I'll not make the mistake of taking anything you say seriously after this.


PS: 'Troll'? I thought that was what you were doing.

Riiiight....the skeptical view is the troll :rolleyes:

[Bottle or the Gun]

Thanks! :wink:

Gotta say though, if there is proof of aliens, I'm first in line to buy the Discovery channel DVD and toys! I can't think of anything better to happen to humanity except for world peace.

[NightG1]

Looks like mama's back fer her yung'en
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/nightg1/mamcrab.jpg

By the way, if it looks like a rock, fails to move like a rock and other rocks are all over the place, then its probably a rock. It does have the same average ccolor as the flat textured bedrock further up the slope.

[Rocky]

A better view.

[King of the Americas]

...see a semi-semetrical antenna loooking structure, of a different color, texture, and shape as the other formations.

But my perception is clouded by the possibility that life might exist in a form or shape I would recogonize as such.

It looks like somthing, rather than nothing, to me.

[Blondin]

It's just an Earthbar wrapper!

[NightG1]

Originally posted by King of the Americas
...see a semi-semetrical antenna loooking structure, of a different color, texture, and shape as the other formations.

But my perception is clouded by the possibility that life might exist in a form or shape I would recogonize as such.

It looks like somthing, rather than nothing, to me.
A rock is nothing? And its the same color.

[waitew]

Originally posted by c0rbin
It puts the lotion on and then it puts it in the basket.



Allright?but I just don't see the connection between this object on Mars & 'Silence of the Lambs'?

[King of the Americas]

You are wrong:

http://www.martiancrabs.com/

[NightG1]

Originally posted by King of the Americas
You are wrong:

http://www.martiancrabs.com/

So. I'm not impressed with a couple of guys using the Photoshop eyedropper tool on a JPEG and calling that conclusive. This is the Carlos/Latin method of image analysis. If you can find a better image analysis of that rock, then by all means please do so. I am telling you that there is no difference in the average color of that still unmoving rock and the bed rock upslope.

[jcon96]

I think it is a skull rock eating bunny....anyone that cannot see that is obviously weak minded...

[crocodile deathroll]

The skull is in fact one of Saddam's mass graves and the surface of Mars is where he has been hiding all of his WMDs.
This also proves that he did in fact have rockets exceeding the maximum permissable range of 100 km.

CDR

[S. D. Youngren]

That's the best WMD excuse I've heard yet. And a photo to prove it!

[uruk]

looks like a piece of the landing platform that was flung off when the capsule opened.
But if it's Mars crabs let me know when Red Lobster starts serving them up!!!!!!

[Rocky]

Originally posted by Explorer
Would anybody like to hazard a guess as to what this could be.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gall...1_2x-B009R1.jpg

JPL has answered: here (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/opportunity/b19_20040304.html)






Hint: air bag fluff.

[Kopji]

yeah, last week there also was some cool stuff that looked like white grass. Life! They could not spectrum image it like they did the 'bunny', but they think it is also from the bag fabric during landing.

Being the good scientists they are, they are reserving final judgment until they move the rover out of the immediate landing area and take a look for more.

This is mostly a good lesson in how important to make as little contamination impact on a site as possible.