×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Friday
16
Jan 2026
weather symbol
Athens 14°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> technology

Odd NASA Curiosity Rover photos restart life on Mars debate

Not everyone is convinced the photos show definitive signs of life on Mars...

Newsroom June 29 09:01

NASA’s Curiosity rover has sent back a pair of very curious photos since March that have resurfaced in conspiracy circles as evidence of a “genuine spaceship” and “thigh bones” visible on Mars.

Alien hunters and UFO enthusiasts are celebrating after two photos appear to show distinct signs of life on Mars. The first photo causing jaws to drop in the reddit conspiracy theorist group Martian Archaeology shows what appears to be fossilized bones or petrified wood protruding from the red planet’s surface. The photo dates back to 2014 and NASA responded to the online uproar then by acknowledging -but dismissing- that the “alien thigh bone” could be linked to extraterrestrial life. The debris pile from the Curiosity’s photograph already has convinced some wishful-thinking alien enthusiasts of extraterrestrial activity on Mars.

m2

(NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover found bones?)

“After years of research and study, I’m convinced now, more than ever, that there is much more to Mars than what NASA admits to,” a reddit user named TJ Devereaux remarked. “I’m certain life, including water, and intelligent life forms, once occupied the planet, and … big leap here … that both still exist, in much smaller quantities.”

Images of the same bone-like object taken 10 days apart show it had grown larger, causing many to speculate it could be a fungus formed on the supposed “alien bone.”

The second image from NASA’s robotic Opportunity rover, also known as MER-B or MER-1, appears to show a shiny, metallic object on Mars’ surface that provoked speculation that it is an alien spacecraft. But several commenters in reddit’s “UFO” forum point out that, like most NASA images from the Curiosity and Opportunity, it’s difficult to gauge the actual size or details from the grainy photo.

m1

(Mars Curiosity finds “spaceship?”)

Curiosity Rover’s findings after five years on Mars:

NASA’s Curiosity rover landed in Mars’ Gale Crater on Aug. 5, 2012, using a complex and never-before-attempted maneuver involving a giant parachute, a jet-controlled descent vehicle and a bungee-like apparatus labeled a “sky crane.” NASA says Curiosity’s mission is “to determine whether the Red Planet ever was, or is, habitable to microbial life.” The rover, which is about the size of a Mini Cooper, is equipped with 17 cameras and a robotic arm that features several specialized laboratory-like tools and instruments to analyze objects on Mars’ surface.

The Curiosity mission has produced more than 4,700 usable images from Mars’ surface, including 26 new images posted Wednesday. An ancient Martian lake and other indications of Earth-like microbes are among the findings revealed by the rover.

But not everyone is convinced the photos show definitive signs of life on Mars.

“The object certainly appears to be artificial. We know that the rover was taking pictures of its own entry debris at that time. There’s nothing particularly alien about the object in question — it could easily be entry debris,” Reddit user “Once Returned” suggested.

>Related articles

Elon Musk: Don’t save for retirement – It won’t matter

Sick astronaut on mission – NASA considers early return of International Space Station crew

NASA published a new map of the universe; the “SPHEREx” space telescope changes the data landscape

Others noted that regardless of the shiny object’s significance, it could be labeled an “Unidentified Landed Object.”

“One explanation is that the object is a piece of debris from the Mars rover itself or from its sky crane landing system,” Nigel Watson, author of “The UFO Investigations Manual,” told the Daily Mail. “Unless we get more detailed information this is another case of wishful thinking.”

Source

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#"Curiosity"#alien life#Mars#nasa#planets#science#space#space exploration#technology#ufo
> More technology

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

“Her father cut her hair because she asked to go to a hair salon, they never gave her money”: New testimonies about Laura

January 16, 2026

Rama persists after rant at Greek journalist and questions the link between Greek speakers and Plato and Aristotle

January 16, 2026

CIA chief in Venezuela meets with Rodriguez

January 16, 2026

Less alcohol and lower speeds with the new Highway Code and strict fines

January 16, 2026

The historic cafes of Athens: 12 legendary hangouts lost to time

January 16, 2026

Why seasonal flu is so “aggressive” this year: An infectious disease specialist from “Sotiria” explains the two main causes

January 16, 2026

Mitsotakis attends the inauguration of the renovated Emergency Department at Red Cross Hospital

January 16, 2026

Where insects go in winter

January 16, 2026
All News

> Economy

Greek firms secure key roles in Libya’s reconstruction

21 Memoranda of Understanding in Benghazi with the Reconstruction Fund - Metlen, TERNA, ADMIE, Archirodon, THEON, TTSA, SALFO, HILLCON and the Greek business footprint in energy, networks, infrastructure, health, pharmaceuticals, food, education and digital projects

January 16, 2026

Latsis Group: This is the new project of Aura Residential’s 219 apartments in Elliniko

January 16, 2026

Industry: Energy deadlock after Commission’s “no” to Italian pricing model

January 16, 2026

ENFIA discounts explained: How home insurance unlocks up to 20% off – 21 answers from AADE

January 16, 2026

Tourism: Greece, Athens, and Attica lead with over 4.75 billion euros in revenue by 2019—Doubling previous figures

January 15, 2026
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2026 Πρώτο Θέμα