Weird object spotted by Opportunity

fulgurite: melted sand due to a lightning strike.

These things have to be dug out of the ground and are formed downward (into) the sand.

The "horned object" was on top of the sand.

IF it was a fulgurite then, where did the lightning come from ? While it is possible that during a Mars (storm) that lightning could be generated, how would this fulgurite get inverted and then (suddenly) disappear ?

He...he..he.LOL

Chill Pill

I have no answers to your questions, I'm not NASA,...

As far as why it "isn't still there", I not so sure that it isn't, I mean the Hazcams, it looks like they are using something like a fish eye lense (?) in which I'm not sure that the resolution would even show it...

But...

The new sol 17 images, the rear hazcam, looks like it shows it, just the resolution isn't there to prove it...

origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov...

Look to the right of the air bag...

IF it was a fulgurite then, where did the lightning come from ? While it is possible that during a Mars (storm) that lightning could be generated, how would this fulgurite get inverted and then (suddenly) disappear ?

They come in all shapes and sizes...

[Edited on 10-2-2004 by Yoda]

yoda, you didn't explain why the fulgurite dissappeared, or why NASA wouldn't announce its discovery if it really was a fulgurite.

I am afraid the ATS boards have been infiltrated by goverment dis-information specialists.

Not only has the "horned object" that we all spotted and have MAJOR questions about disregarded by ALL the media, so is the apparent lack of ESA released pictures of the odd surface "anomalies" from the M. Valleis (spelling?) region on Mars.

I feel there is a "wall" to all discoveries when it comes to Mars. And I suspect there are certain "people" on this board that are apart of the program to conceal the truth.

It is very depressing to realize that regardless of how much the evidence is "in your face" that there are forces at work to keep the "truth" hidden.



[Edited on 11-2-2004 by robertfenix]

dont worry robert, just keep the ATS motto of deny ignorance in mind and keep posting and discussing whatever findings/anamolies that come across.

I don't need anyone to solidfy my views or confirm anything for me.

Remember you can never please everyone all the time. so no need to stress it.

Originally posted by LetMeIn

Mars here i come!!!!

Interesting thread on this object from the Mars photos, but I have to ask:
If this object is alive and walked away before more photos could be had, why/how is it so large?
If I were a lifeform on Mars I would expect to be rather tiny. What would I eat if my home were a shallow crater on a barren planet?
Why would I have horns? Do I battle with other alien creatures and eat them?

If it is a shell, or a fosil, or any other object with some substantial mass, how could it have blown away in such a short period of time, or been covered up by blowing sand?

Then it has the ability to move about. Since the crater is only 66 feet wide and the "horned object" was roughly 3 to 4 inches or more in size. It would be possible for it to move outside of the crater and back to its borrow within a few hours or maybe even minutes.

If it is alive, then there must also be some sort of other Biological resource that it feeds on. Like little worms in the sand etc.

The "horns" IMO are not horns but apandages that it could use to search through the sand looking for prey and would add to its "digging" ability. Just like claws on a lobster or a crab. Could also be used as a defensive mechanizm when scared similar to a scorpion.

( a big bouncing, humming object that opened up and made all kinds of sounds I would think would be considered a threat)

Hence the "Arms Up" ready to fight position.

I have found some visable evidence that the "arms" were laying on the sand in a v shape prior to some of the SOL 2 images as there is a slightly darker v shaped image to the right of the main body. While the sun casted shadows up and slightly right as evident in all of the SOL 2 photos

I have seen no evidence to support the theory that it was an inanimate object that was "blown" away. Since "it" does not appear in any other pictures from other SOL days in the mission so far.

Originally posted by robertfenix

If it is alive, then there must also be some sort of other Biological resource that it feeds on. Like little worms in the sand etc.

I already found one of the worms that you've mentioned





in the same thread that we were talking about the stone with the x on it.

robertfenix brought up what I thought was an excellent point. Have we seen any evidence of wind so far besides rippled sand? Not that I know of. We haven't seen pictures of sand blowing in front of the cameras, right? But if the object was a piece of packing material or insulation, like glass wool or foam, it probably wouldn't take much to move it.

[Edited on 11-2-2004 by Condorcet]

It is hard to tell, there might be a ton of biological evidence around.

At home I found a NASA report on Exobiology- conditions for locating Extant (living) life on Mars from 1995.

You can find it on the internet in google if you look for exobiology I think it was like the 2 or 3 page and had a nasa url. It was a text document that talks about mission planning after the viking missions. Lots of great stuff in it. As well as specifing specific areas where NASA believes the highest probability of finding life as well as what types of instruments and test they need to conduct in the future.

Some of which they are doing right now, like using the microscopic tools to check for conditions of past standing water. It also mentions the stageloites (spelling?) as a possible condition of microbial life that may have been covered by fine sediment on the surface of a body of water, that they would collect together and form the round sphere shaped fossils. EXACTLY like what they found in the sand recently. They knew since 1995 that there would be a high probability that they would find those types of structures and sent the landers in the areas they thought had the highest probability of the youngest water activity (young being relative to other features on the planet)

I will try and find the link and will post it here shortly

cmex-www.arc.nasa.gov...

Here it is, I suggest everyone copy this for there records in case it gets "removed"

yoda, you didn't explain why the fulgurite dissappeared, or why NASA wouldn't announce its discovery if it really was a fulgurite.

Well...

Like I said before I'm not NASA, so I can't speak for them, and I'm not sure that it is gone, because I wasn't sure of the resolution of the hazcams...

But...

According to this HazCam Specs ...

The digitizer can simultaneously digitize the stereo video stream with 8 bpp dynamic range and 512x480 resolution. The optics consist of a 6.0mm focal length lens with a fixed aperture of F2.0.

And the specs of the Pancam...

2 CCD cameras, stereoscopic mount
Each 1024x1024 pixels, monochrome
Lens 43mm f/20 (=109mm on a 35mm camera)
Focal depth 1.5m to infinity, optimized at 3m
8-position filter wheel in each camera

As you can see the PanCam has a much better resolution than the HazCam, which is why I don't think you will be able to see it very well with the HazCam...



[Edited on 12-2-2004 by Yoda]

Interesting new article at space.com

"There's much more than meets the eye in these images," Lemmon said, but he couldn't say what that was.

Mark Lemmon [is] science team member for the rovers at Texas A&M University.

space.com...

Could the outcropping be calcium carbonate (like travertine aka alabaster - created by mineral deposits from water) and could the spherules consolidated into it be fossils? Sounds like there may be a debate going on to that effect. Exciting stuff.

Life on Mars:
www.resa.net...

Fossils on Mars?
news.bbc.co.uk...

[Edited on 12-2-2004 by Condorcet]

I'm just curious, has anyone e-mailed or tried to contact JPL or NASA about this image?

Also, jus how much are the images posted on the 'net downsampled from the orignals?

HowardRoark

Are you refering to the 'rabbit' object? Yes on the emails, no response so far.

The 'rabbit' found in the panorama jpeg on the marsrover.jpl site is a crappy 98dpi. I haven't found a TIFF image of it - has anyone else?

he does not mentioned the "horned" object only the little spheres.

again they wish to make no comments about what is right there in front of all our faces.

even the link that I posted for the 1995 NASA report is spot on according to what they have been finding, yet they say they are "baffled" by the discovery of sphere shaped objects.

COME ON. THEY THINK WE ARE ALL STUPID.

I JUST CANT SEEM TO COME TO GRIPS WITH THE GOVERMENT TRYING TO SURPRESS THE FACTS.

Are you refering to the 'rabbit' object? Yes on the emails, no response so far

"We've heard that thing described as all kinds of things," said JPL educational spokesman John Sepikas. "Bunny ears, a claw, a crab, a skull -- all sorts of interpretations. We think it's material that came off the airbag. There are other little pieces lying around the field."



Sepikas acknowledged that NASA's identification wasn't certain, but said the agency was sure enough not to waste precious machine time to check out. With only weeks or months of life in them, and a temperamental start, NASA wants to use the slow-moving rovers conservatively.

Looks like JPL did comment on it...

www.techcentralstation.com...

Linda Vester is talking about the horned thing.