Decipher the mystery behind a photo of a 'human bone' object on NASA's Martian surface

On August 14, 2014, NASA's Curiosity autonomous vehicle sent back to Earth a number of close-up images of the Martian surface, which were recorded by the MastCam super camera integrated into the vehicle. Among the images posted by NASA, a photo of a strange object shaped like a human bone protruding from the sand on the surface of Mars immediately attracted attention.

At the time, some people who believed in conspiracy theories considered this to be the clearest evidence of the existence of life on the Red Planet. After 6 years, the image reappeared and was quickly shared multiple times on social networks and several online forums, according to ScienceAlert.

However, according to the US space agency (NASA), this strange object is actually just a rock deformed after a period of erosion by wind or water on Mars. 

" This is a picture taken by the Curiosity self-driving car taken with a MastCam camera. This rock on the surface of Mars may look a bit like a thigh bone. However, our researchers think the shape of the rock This stone can be created from the erosion of wind or water, "NASA wrote on its homepage.

" If life once existed on Mars, scientists believe it existed in the form of microorganisms, because on this planet there is not enough oxygen to feed the more complex organisms. there are likely large-scale fossils here, "explains NASA.

Looking back in history, scientists have captured many strange things on Mars, from a spoon, squirrel, blueberries to a woman's shadow . but no one is sure whether they are real or not. .

In 1976, a photo taken by the American Viking spacecraft capturing the surface of Mars attracted special public attention. NASA's spacecraft at the time photographed a face protruding above the surface of Mars, with its eyes, nose and mouth. The US space agency (NASA) even used the phrase "the face of Mars" when talking about the image above. 

However, the high-resolution photos taken decades later show that the 'Martian face' is actually a hill up to nearly 3.2 km long with many protrusions.

On September 5, 2007, NASA's Spirit car also took a wide-angle photo on Mars and accidentally recorded a strange scene: an object with a strange shape, like a woman sitting thoughtfully. However, this is actually just a stone tablet shaped like a human.

According to ScienceAlert's explanation, the fact that some people 'mistakenly' look at the rock on Mars into strange objects is influenced by Pareidoila syndrome. It's a psychological obsessive syndrome about something familiar to you, which usually happens when certain parts of the brain process visual information and draw conclusions before the rest of the brain catches up.