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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Science
Christopher Hooton

Well, it looks an awful lot like there's a woman on Mars in this Nasa photo

(Nasa/Mashable)

There’s a mysterious, fey lady standing on Mars, you guys! Well no, of course there isn’t, but it looks uncannily like it in this photo from Nasa’s Curiosity Rover.

The image is totally legit, and one of thousands of Mars photos Nasa collates online.

For those desperate to believe, the images are best viewed sequentially - increasing in zoom - and you should start by turning on The X-Files theme music:

 

The ‘sighting’ was first picked up by indispensable UFO blog UFO Sightings Daily, which claims the mass “looks like a woman partly cloaked”.

Key questions:

Why is she striking such a powerful pose?

Isn't that a bit of precarious place to stand?

Where did she get those clothes?

What does she do for fun?

Did she understand the finale of True Detective?

The figure could be a Martian, or a statue from an ancient civilisation, or just a bit of rock. We'll let you decide.

The dramatic claim is similar to that of Cydonia, the so-called ‘Face of Mars’, and is down to our pareidolia - a psychological phenomenon involving a stimulus wherein the mind perceives a familiar pattern where none actually exists.

@christophhooton

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