Mars Needs Women!

[PPI Karl]

Space.com ran a story this week on the phenomenon of pareidolia, to address the outrageous claims circulating on the internet that a Spirit Rover photograph of a rock formation resembling a seated female nude is not actually alive.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080124-bad-mystery-mars.html

I've been an avid follower of Richard Hoagland's obsessive--and sometimes hilarious--claims about Martian technology, based on the geometry and distance of everything from mountains to pebbles.  (Hoagland is the guy trying to take credit as the first person to predict that Europa was a frozen ocean world--yeah, except his prediction was based on a wishful hunch, not on science.)  I keep Hoagland and the Martian technology theories always in the back of my mind as I'm looking at the evidence of the paranormal.  If any of you have not as yet ventured into the Face On Mars craze, I urge you to have a slash through it some Saturday afternoon when you're on the internet and bored.  It's quite an education about how a desire for something to be true creates a perception that makes it quite "real."

[ttjoon]

Karl,

While we are on the subject, does the name Melinda Leslie ring a bell?

(or ring a bell for anyone else?)

[PPI Brian]

And let us not forget the face and the heart on Eros!
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/strange_images_010213-1.html

Here's a more recent image of the infamous "Face on Mars". You know, the more I look at it, the more familiar it seems... hmmm, must be pareidolia. 

[CACPIR_Dave]

on the TAPS board someone posted a link to an article saying it was Bigfoot.

[Kristen]

So it says, and I quote, "Several bloggers and other enthusiasts have pointed to a tiny structure ... on the Martian surface as a human figure and thus evidence of life on Mars."  So the NASA experts didn't even question it once, what does that tell you?  It's a ROCK.

[PPI Brian]

So it says, and I quote, "Several bloggers and other enthusiasts have pointed to a tiny structure ... on the Martian surface as a human figure and thus evidence of life on Mars."  So the NASA experts didn't even question it once, what does that tell you?  It's a ROCK.

I have been following Spirit and Opportunity since they launched. In fact we even had an impromptu party at my house when Spirit landed and again when Opportunity landed. We listened to JPL Mission Control streaming live over the internet. We were stoked when they got signals from both landers, and I have followed their progress at least on a weekly basis ever since. Obviously I'm easily amused. 

These images are available on their MER website:  http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/  JPL routinely renders most of their panoramic images in 3-D prior to commanding the rovers to roll into uncharted territory. This is why they haven't got stuck anywhere for very long. If you have a pair of old-fashioned 3-D glasses and some spare time on your hands, grab a beer and be prepared to be amazed. The Martian landscape looks totally different in 3-D. If it was anything other than a wind eroded rock, JPL would have sent to rover to take a better look. Here's the same panorama in 3-D: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/3d/spirit/

IMHO the most compelling hints of life on the red planet have been the possible bacteria fossils discovered in a martian meteorite from Antartica in the late 90's and another anomalous image from one of the rovers that some people claim might be a sea lilly fossil.

Regards,

Brian Miller

[Donna]

Brian, you and my husband will get along famously! You have more in common than just your name! I love the photo by the way. It seems to me to resemble Karl. Funny how things seem to be resembling Karl these days.

[PPI Karl]

does the name Melinda Leslie ring a bell?

Yeah, that name did ring a "Bell", but I couldn't place it exactly until I looked her up.  I remember now seeing her interviewed on some of those alien abduction episodes of programs like Strange But Real or True Stories of the Los Angeles Highway Patrol.  What a tale she has to tell!

[PPI Brian]

Brian, you and my husband will get along famously! You have more in common than just your name! I love the photo by the way. It seems to me to resemble Karl. Funny how things seem to be resembling Karl these days.

Are you going to watch the total lunar eclipse in February?

[Todd]

i got pictures from the last eclipse lol there really cool