9 Strange Pictures Captured On Mars That Puzzle Scientists

By: Lauren Wurth | Last updated: Oct 02, 2023

Over the years, there have been various categories of unmanned missions to explore the moon. Most have also collected audio and visual data about Mars.

By collecting the highlighted data, there have been several pictures – closeup and far away images – that give the impression there are living entities on the red planet. Have a look at some of these images and you be the judge!

Human Inhabitants on Mars?

The picture below is almost totally convincing that there was some humanlike presence on Mars. That assumption was driven by this image captured by one of the Mars Rovers designed by NASA.

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Source: NASA

However, experts were able to prove that the bonelike structure was just a rock formation that coincidentally took the shape of a bone. But it was a while before they could dispel the belief that the object was not a human bone.

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Who Would Have Thought?

If it had not been captured in this image, no one would have known that avalanches occur on the red planet. It actually took a number of visual analyses before NASA scientists could identify one.

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Source: NASA

On Earth, hot weather causes glaciers to melt and slide, thus causing ice sheets and glaciers to flow. However, as we see in this picture, Martian ice (frozen CO2) melts and flows when temperatures rise on the planet’s surface.

Fertilized Ovum or Tadpole?

At first sight, any student or scientist who views this picture may arrive at the conclusion that it is a magnified image of a fertilized egg. However, it is simply an image of a Martian crater from space.

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Source: NASA

Experts have come to agree that the tail-like formation was probably caused by accumulated water flowing down the crater’s exterior slope. So, this is neither a tadpole nor a fertilized egg.

The Frozen Waves of Mars

The formation in the image below has been named “Dragon Scales” by NASA scientists, and the reason for this is not farfetched. A careful glance at the image reveals that this part of Mars’ surface looks like scales abandoned by a dragon that shed its skin.

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Source: NASA

Geological experts, however, believe the heteroclite formation was caused by erosion on the Martian surface. What they’ve not concluded is the form in which the water flowed. Was it flowing as a liquid or as ice, like in an avalanche?

Spectacular Quality of The Martian Images

Sometimes, it takes a high-quality image to get detailed analysis of the visuals. So, since we cannot physically be on the planet Mars – at least not yet – we can only rely on the available pictures.

Source: NASA

After zooming in on this picture, some social media scientists (self-invested scientists without laboratory or portfolio) concluded that the object is a monster crab. Yet, legit scientists ruled that what they see is just an optical illusion.

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Changes on the Surface of Mars

The structure of the Earth’s surface is continuously changing due to multiple agents like quakes, volcanic eruptions, erosions, tsunamis, landslides, etc. Well, scientists have discovered there are similar activities on Mars.

Source: NASA

This waffle-like image of Mars’ surface is actually showing us an island. The jagged shape was caused by lava flow and volcanic activities in that region of Mars.

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The Face of a Human Lost In the Desert

All the images of Mars that we have considered so far have helped us learn an important lesson: looks can be deceiving. Scientists call this habit of humans seeing faces in inanimate objects “pareidolia.”

Source: NASA

In this image, it looks like you are looking at the face of a human that has been lightly covered by desert sand. However, it is simply a mountain structure captured from afar.

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The Absence of Familiar Life On Mars

From what we have learned from living things on Earth, it is evident that most of them require water to survive and thrive. So, scientists have concluded that the absence of living organisms on Mars is due to lack of water on the Martian surface.

Source: NASA

However, scientists believe that there used to be water flowing on the surface of the red planet several years back. This image is yet another piece of evidence to back up that claim.

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How to Fool An Archeologist

See the highlighted object in this picture? It looks just like the fossil of a long-dead and well-preserved fish. The fact that this image was taken on Mars would probably give the average archeologist tingles.

Source: NASA

Unfortunately, scientists have established that there has never been enough oxygen in Mars’ atmosphere to support complex organisms. So, what we have here is just another rock formation that looks like a fish.

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