Mars. Spirit. Do We Have… A Live One?

I’m very excited! On my regular visit to Mr. Skipper’s site, I was enticed by the title of the latest post, MARS MOVING EVIDENCE, and I was certainly not disappointed! I’d like you to go over there and read it, because what I’ve done here with my own photo work is only a portion of a quarter of the evidence presented, even within this section of his posting. For besides the other inexplicables…

This “rock” is what caught my eye. As Skipper intimates with his writing; and after looking so closely and so extensively into the wee hours… I am of the opinion that this rock… ain’t no rock. No, I think we’ve got a live one here. I really  do! Damn!

This is a sequence, (not all of them here) of the Rover’s views over a period of many days, from Sol 1830 to 1843. That’s a day shy of two weeks. Be aware that the rover is moving slightly to the left in relation to these images as the days go on, so there are some camera angle changes, but not enough, surely, to account for what we’re seeing.

Check out the general shape. There’s a frill or ridge on the thing’s “head.” That’s cool, but I’m in particular looking at the progression of the tentacular-looking appendage that’s at the little dude’s front. Note how it becomes more vertical in attitude and therefore appearing thinner along it’s length as the days go on. It appears as if it’s an arm of sorts to perhaps scoop food into reach. I mean, come on, just look at that thing! It clearly is not in the same orientation in the different timeframes. It’s possible as well that the whole being has moved in angular relation to us as well, with the “head” more towards us later on. Maybe not, but it seems so.

Okay, guys, I am well aware of simulacra and pareidolia… however… this evidence is pushing those two very human phenomena of the mind just a bit, don’t you think? Perhaps that’s what this really is, nevertheless it looks pretty well real to me at this point and I’m willing to risk a foray onto the limb. Especially when considered in concert with the other activity in this scene as revealed at Skipper’s site. These images are a crop of much, much less than 10% of the full frame and perhaps a quarter of the area where the other stuff happens.

Although these are merely stills and not many of them over the 13 days, there’s an impression in my mind that life’s a bit slow-paced up there… ah, wouldn’t it be fabulous if they’d put a video camera on our explorers? For that matter… why haven’t they? Seems so very odd within our video and television enmeshed culture. Maybe it’s because we the people would learn way too much, or that NASA would have way too much editing to do. I believe they’d get all the funding and popular enthusiasm they could ever want if they did that. [UPDATE: 6/08/09. Re: this paragraph. They had. See why they stopped! Go here. Then go here.]

Anyhow, this is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a dog’s age. Be sure to read Skipper’s post, as I mentioned there’s more going on in this scene than just this guy, and there are three other incidents there as well.

On Sol 1833, Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took the above image… and on Sol 1836, it took the one below and the third on Sol 1843. Images by NASA/JPL with very  slight enhancement by myself.