Some conspiracy theorists claim that a photo taken by a NASA navigation camera in 2012 shows what appears to be a human-shaped figure working on the Mars Curiosity Rover as it explores the Red Planet.
NASA skeptics say the image shows a human-shaped shadow bent over the probe as if making repairs. The shadow appears to be that of a male with an air tank on his back and no helmet, with short, spiky hair visible, according to the Daily Mail.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”– Scott Waring” author_title=”Ufologist”]
The person has no helmet and their short hair is visible and in high detail. The person has on air tanks on their back and a suit that covers most of the body except the hair.
[/quote]
Scott Waring, a Taiwan-based ufologist, posted the image to UFO Sightings Daily. The site claims the image is proof that the rover is on Earth, aliens are sabotaging rovers, or humans are living on Mars — going so far as to speculate they may be living in abandoned alien bases, according to Chron.
While some claim the image is proof of life on Mars, others claim it shows that the Curiosity Rover is not even on Mars and that it has remained on Earth. Others say the shadow is just a coincidence and those who see a figure are only confirming their own beliefs. The human brain naturally seeks out figures and faces in random patterns, such as clouds or even toast. This phenomenon is called pareiodolia, according to the Huffington Post.
The buzz around the image comes after it was announced last month that the Curiosity Rover detected methane spikes, which scientists believe come from bacteria-like organisms on the surface.
This discovery was made after analyzing gas samples by the rover’s Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS), which uses intense light to complete chemical analysis. The samples showed a low background level of methane that spiked ten-fold over a period of 60 Martian days.
