More Structures On Mars?
Whitley Strieber recently posted a link to a photo from the Mars rover Opportunity. There is some discussion going on at his Facebook page as to whether strange rectilinear shapes at the top of the frame represent some sort of artificial objects on the surface of Mars. The discussion is currently at 100 comments, mostly in favor of an artificial explanation.
Unfortunately, a proponent of Mars anomalies (or at least an open mind on them) states that the apparent structures are markings on the lens hood of the camera that took the photo. Mike Bara says that the camera has shown these “anomalies” before, and that the same shapes appear in other images from the rover in the last few years.
Weighing the evidence for myself and taking a look at the photos, I’ll have to go with the mundane explanation this time. To be sure, there are other apparent artificial anomalies imaged by the Mars rovers and orbiters and my mind remains open on at least some of them. Mac Tonnies once pointed out to me that the ubiquitous “face” (which I had dismissed after the re-imaging in 2001) contained elements that were incompatible with the “natural feature” explanation due to repeated examples of symmetry that were nearly impossible with our present understanding of geology. Perhaps not, but the debate remains ongoing.
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Feb 19 2010 
February 19th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Yes, similar photos have already appeared, and the feature represents normally expected glitches in the equipment. Don’t the “conspiracy” theorists usually believe that NASA would never release a photo showing truly artificial features so clearly as appear in this photo?
Regarding the face on Mars, I have seen quite similar natural features in the Sahara Desert (I have a collection of photos I took there of such natural anomalies). I like to theorize about strange things in the comfort of my home, but sometimes an actual safari into the depths of the earth’s most extreme environments can teach us things not found in books.
February 20th, 2010 at 2:25 am
Oh, I see. Yes. I think that people are mistaking the edge of some kind of ‘hood’ for the horizon. I guess the obvious question should have been “why would there be two horizon lines”?
February 20th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Dr. Tekin,
Do you have any satellite imagery of those forms you photographed? It would be interesting to compare. Simulacra have been the go-to explanation for Mars and Moon anomalies, so I’d like to see comparisons with Earth features. I believe this has been done, but can’t remember the organizations or people who did it.
February 20th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Deirdre,
That’s one of the questions I asked myself.