Martian Anomaly - PIA08557

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/39f8d3b92827.jpg[/atsimg]

Source link:

photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov...

When I find a Mars or Moon anomaly picture that really intrigues me, I've almost made it into a habit to pop over to the Department of Geology (at the university where I work) and show it to a friend.

I ask him what it is, and when he seems a bit perplexed and ask me what region the anomaly is from, I tell him something like "The Aristarchus plateau on the Moon" with a grin. Why make it easy for him?

So I came across this THEMIS picture (courtesy of JPL) that looks like... well, good question. I consulted my geologist friend again what kind of geological process could create this, his reaction was; "Is this one of your Mars pictures again?" I guess I've been over there a bit too often lately.

In any case, he had no clear answer, not being an extraterrestial geologist. Certain features in this anomaly does remind me of fossilized exoskeleton organisms present here on Earth. Not that I want to make that connection just yet, because why would any presumed fossilized Martian organism look anything like an Earth organism? Another problem is the size of this thing. A paleontological guess was of course excluded to my friend. "If you got it from the internet, my guess is it's fake" was his last word. The problem is, it comes straight from NASA's own server, so if it's fake we have another problem on our hands.

NASA generally have ready-to-go explanations for most Martian anomalies, but they seem a bit stumped by this one, even if they do refer to it as a "sand dune".

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8d3af8d1f49e.jpg[/atsimg]

A Trilobite fossil

Perhaps someone with in-depth knowledge of geology or asteroid impacts could help me out here. Could an impact create this type of skidmark, do similar examples exist here on Earth or on nearby planets and moons?

Analytical skills are more welcome than your out-of-the-box guesses, but please hit me with what you've got!

May I see the Full picture of the fish-bat skeleton? (the 2nd picture)

Sorry I can't give an educated guess but it kind of reminds me of the creatures from he movie Tremors. img363.imageshack.us...=1

nice pic!

martian sand croc!




it does look like a fossil or at least petrified rather than geology or sand.


s+f

Well, in my opinion, the second fossil that you posted, what appears to resemble a Trilobite fossil as mentioned you before, might be related to the birth of the planets. This is because when the planets were in formation 4.6 billion years ago, or possibly later, the planets were formed, followed by their moons, and then the dinosaurs appeared on Earth. Well not just dinosaurs, but the many other creatures that we see fossilized today, again, like the Trilobite fossil. This same thing could have occurred on Mars.

looks like a burned piece of lumber
anyways thats my 2 cents
cool pic thx for posting

Maybe a bit of a shot in the dark here because I've only had chance to look at the pic for a minute (I'm in work), but wanted to ask this.........0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 etc...... Fibonacci Sequence??

Could it be the mark of nature on Mars, because this sequence seems to pop up every now and again......?

Just my thoughts.....peace.

Remirah

the second pic looks like it could have wings also how close are we looking how big is the fossil

It seems a depression in the ground, the darker area being of course deeper than the surroundings. It does resemble a trilobite fossil, the fair regular distances among the "vertebrae" allow this possibility. What is not clear to me is the scale, how big is this?
I have been watching carefully many Mars pictures and I can say that almost in all of them there is something weird. Good find, you get S+F

Not being some kind of smart off....but the first picture looks like it could be a shedding off the tail of some large reptile...maybe a species of Martian Dragon. Not exactly a "real" answer, but then when dealing with off earth possibilities, anything is possible, right?

The second pic really is a trilobite, right? Looks just like all the ones I've seen when I was a kid....

What we have here gentlemen is a very very large martian alligator or croc. That is one gigantic alligator or possibly some form of dune worm someone manifested becouse they thought about the movie too long and hard one day. Whatever it is once again its great to experience patterns , one day the solar winds blow on mars and some how out of the infinite number of possibilites it creates something so familiar as the skin of another living species on a distant planet . Im goin with gigantic fossilized alligator skin. one of the gigantic gods used to wear back in the day

Umm I don't know but it kind of reminds me of this :

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/2d70f53cd6f6.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/dea3c7f2fc0a.jpg[/atsimg]


Hmm weird

Possibly a glacing blow by a meteorite, across a series of sand dunes, the tops being knocked over and fused into a sheet of glass by the heat.

Here's an image very similar in texture to yours...

reply to post by Remirah


Good call ; ) harmonics in PHI/Pi fractals

Originally posted by Hundroid
It seems a depression in the ground, the darker area being of course deeper than the surroundings.

I would have to disagree with that. If you look closely, you'll se that small stones around the anomaly cast a shadow to the right. At the upper portion, sand has caved in and the shadow is to the left. This means that the light falls in from the left, and protruding objects in the landscape will be darker on the right side.

reply to post by Æsop


Great call! That was my first impression. Of course, the distance the photo was taken from would be good info as it may look completely different from a closer perspective.

Man. We could pray it was dune worms, and then, some governments find out and decide to attack Mars because it destroyed a rover, and it leaps out at 500,000 feet long. Boy that would be some story to tell to my kids.

if it is a fossilised creature .. that thing would have been HUGE

By the by, if you click the sourece link and look at the context image, you can see truly how large that thing is, as the mound to its left looks pretty darn large, and it is pretty long, seeing as if you look, and see it actually dissipates further into the sand. S&F great find.