- Comment
- From Lensman
- 2-6-4
-
- Jeff,
-
- I downloaded the large version (9MB) from the Nasa site
right after it appeared on it. I noticed something in the foreground, but
dismissed it as a piece of the chute/balloon assembly. When I saw the piece
on Rense the other night, I immediately pulled the downloaded jpeg up and
simply did an unsharp filter twice in Photoshop, and then lightened the
overall tones a bit to get more fine detail, without distorting pixels.
-
- There is something extraordinarily strange on the ground
there. It looks as though it could be a number of things. A vestige of
dead "vegetation" of some kind? A fossil of a dead martian insect
or animal? Or, some living thing? It just doesn't look like anything on
the lander and its surrounding deflated impact balloons, or anything else
that might explain such an unusual object. Some have speculated that it
might be a piece of the lander's descent and impact system that fragmented
during impact, but when anyone who examines this in Photoshop can see that
this thing looks "organic."
-
-
- From: Veomega
2-6-4
-
- Hey Jeff,
-
- Just to let you know, the big image is still up, it's
here:
- http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040202a.html
-
- They archive things every few days so you have to look
around. Personally i think the anamolies are pieces of debris from the
landing craft. If you look in the lower right, there's another scrap that's
blue, red, and foil in color, clearly NASA related.
-
- Veo
-
From Dave Jackson
- 2-7-4
-
- Hi Guys!
-
- I was able to download the image today and there are
a number of peculiar items in the image. Besides the two that were pointed
out previously, there is one item, in the bottom right hand corner, which
sits on top of soil that was disturbed by the lander either during landing
or airbag retraction.
-
- All of the items of interest in this picture all appear
to have been "blown" in the same direction (roughly right/forward
of the lander). With this information, and looking at the item resting
on top of the disturbed soil, my best guess is that these are items that
were used to tie the lander down during flight/entry, and have blown right/forward
once they were "cut" away from holding the lander on it's platform.
-
- Regards,
- Dave Jackson
-
-
- Update
-
- From Dave Nelms
- dave@hamr.com
-
- Howdy Dan,
-
- Thanks for your kind words. You sound like
- my kind of guy.
-
- Yes, when I first spotted the object, friends and I joked
about it being shot in Arizona. And the possibility of a fossil being planted
by the rover to enhance Dubya's chances of a Mars mission, thus re-election.
We'll see, but for now, I'll tell you this: there's more to come!
-
- Keep an eye on Rense!
-
- Dave
-
-
- At 10:16 PM 2/6/2004, you wrote:
-
- Hi Dave:
-
- Saw your article on Rense.
-
- Here's my (conspiracy) theory.
-
- The rover is not on Mars. It's a hoax. It's out in some
desert somewhere and the govt wants us sheeple to think we made it to Mars.
The dried vegetation or dead animal you spotted would have proved this
is a fabricated, staged event, so they had to hide it.
-
- Reasons? USA can boast we are the first to get there.
Make China, Russia etc spends billions trying to get there too. They must
try now, to prove they have the engineering, finances, and skills to compete.
-
- Second, government big-shots siphon billions off of the
NASA budget for their buddies (contracts for parts, etc.)
-
- Third, keep the stupid American public busy while they
steal the country while nobody is watching.
-
- Yes, I am a conspiracy theorist. It's a hoax, and you
busted them.
- Dan
-
-
-
- Dave,
-
- I'm assuming that you are the one who posted the rense
article.
-
- I believe that it is likely a fulgurite: http://tektitesource.com/Fulgurites.html
-
- Scroll down to the pictures of fulgurites with branches.
-
- ful·gu·rite (P) Pronunciation
Key (flgy-rt, -g-, fl-)
-
- n. A slender, usually tubular body of glassy rock produced
by lightning striking and then fusing dry sandy soil.
-
- It sure looks like it could be dry and sandy soil.
-
- Keep looking - I'm the guy who found the 'trailer park'
at Cydonia.
-
- Rupert
-
- Comment
-
- From David Maynard
- davidmaynard@pacbell.net
- 2-7-4
-
- Dear Jeff:
-
- The picture in question is still available at Nasa's
excellent "Astronomy Picture of the Day" archive http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040204.html
.
-
- I believe the object is a Martian fulgurite. A fulgurite
is made from sand fused into glass by a lightning strike. They have a characteristic
branching shape reminiscent of the object in the photo. http://www.amnh.org/learn/musings/SP01/mb.htm
is an good explanation of Earthly fulgurites. http://www.menzelphoto.com/gallery/big/lightning6.htm
is a very nice photograph of fulgurite from Arizona.
-
- Even though the Martian atmosphere is only about 1% as
dense as the Earth's, Martian dust storms are thought to put enough statically
charged particles into the air to cause Martian lightning. High voltage
Martian Lightning is described here: http://mars.astrobio.net/news/print.php?sid=50
.
-
- Nasa should use this Opportunity to investigate the object
and publish its findings.
-
- Thank you for creating such an informative and entertaining
web site that constantly explores that fractal boundary between knowledge
and speculation.
-
- Sincerely,
-
- David Maynard
- Speculative ExoBioInformaticist
-
-
- Comment
- From Kim Burrafato
- 2-7-4
-
- We got lots of press about some angularly shaped, smooth
rock named Adirondack, photographed by the Sprit rover. But we haven't
heard nary a peep from JPL/NASA or the mainstream press about the patently
strange object photographed by Opportunity, within mere feet of it. What's
wrong with this picture?
-
-
- Comment
- From Wilson Lindsey
- 2-8-4
-
- If the surface of mars consists of a fine dust-like consistency
reported by the media, it is unlikely that this object was created by lightning
striking sand. The object looks organic, perhaps some ancient under sea
life form fossil. I downloaded the original tiff file from JPL and have
studied it to the best of my photo enhancing ability. It is disturbing
for some reason. In any case, if NASA wants funding, all they have to do
is circulate this picture.
-
- This could be the scoop of the century. Thank you.
-
-
-
- From Marc Spess
- animateclay@suscom.net
- 2-9-4
-
- Hi Jeff,
-
- I want to say that the object is really fascinating!
But as to what piece of the lander it could be - the air bags are one possibility.
I have NASA TV, and I watched them do the tests on the air bags in a simulated
vacuum room. The test they conducted was to blow up the air bags, then
drop them with a pay load inside of them on an angled floor with large
rocks glued to it. What the tests showed was that the air bags got ripped
to shreds. And at one point they almost stopped the project because of
the damage they found.
-
- The reason the bags survive is because they are made
up of several layers of a woven fabric. When the air bag hits, the outer
layers shred - and absorb some of the shock. I believe in the tests, all
but the last layer or two got shredded. A technician put his hand into
a hole that was about two and a half feet in diameter, and the material
seemed to be very thin. Almost like a very light silk material. That is
the only thing that object might be. A piece from the air bags could have
been ripped off, landing to the side. The only way to know is to take a
high quality image of it, which NASA has not done. And if they did they
either don't think it's important to address, or they are hiding something.
-
- As for the thermal image, if you are a scientists where
would you point the camera? Right in the middle of the rock formation where
the most data is. So I don't believe that they are trying to avoid the
object in that picture, it's just good science.
-
- That said I am hope the truth comes out. The object does
not look like fabric!
-
- Marc
- More Comments
-
- From Dave Nelms
- dave@hamr.com
- 2-9-4
-
- Object Sat Stationary for Seven Sols, then Vanished
-
- "I was wondering if anyone has had the thought that
maybe the object in the mars pan is actually a living thing?"
-
-
-
-
- Dear Dave,
-
- I was wondering if anyone has had the thought that maybe
the object in the mars pan is actually a living thing? Maybe the reason
it looks like it was destroyed was because it simply moved from the location.
If all the speculation about mars' sky being blue due to the presence of
O2 and water, why would it be hard to believe that mars could have a desert
style eco-system? Very little would be visible during daylight hours, which
is when the rovers are awake. Maybe it was a fluke that the rover took
a picture at the exact time this thing was in the frame.
- Deborah
-
- Yes Deborah, Several have. And In fact, I consider it
to be an excellent possibility. But not something that crawls - maybe more
like something with shallow roots, like a fungus or plantlike creature.
-
- The object was photographed on Sol 2 for the first time.
NASA took four pictures in a row with four different filters. At this time
the rover was still sitting on the lander, largely unpacked.
-
- The next clear picture of the object was the high resolution
panoramic view taken on Sol 9. By comparing the shots, we can see that
the object remained stationary for seven sols. This "blows away"
the theory that the object was "blown away" in the pictures from
Sol 7. Another question mark?
- The object appears to have a biological shape, but if
it was a fossil, it should have been settled into the dirt. Yet it sat
above the dirt, and now it is gone.
-
- Where did it go? If it is part of the spacecraft, which
part is it? We're still waiting.
-
-
- ---Mr. Nelms,
-
- I have been following the Mars expedition photos and
was really
- surprised to see the 'snail-like' item spotted on the
surface.
- The reason I was surprised, was, I had just seen a close
copy in a game
- I started playing last month.
-
- In the new 'Myst' PC game released(11/03) , URU, which
we received as a
- Christmas gift from our granddaughter & her husband,
is a similar 'creature's'
- picture. It is in a sketch on a desk in a tower in the
'Teledahn Age'.
- The resemblance is uncanny.
-
- Sorry, I could not copy the 'snail' to send to you, as
I don't know how
- to use the PC's Windows' copy feature while playing a
game.
-
- Very strange indeed.
-
- Marylyn McCullough
- West Chester Pa.
-
-
- Interesting point, since the Teledahn Age is associated
with mushrooms, and object seems to me as though it could be a fungus of
some sort.
-
- Creepy!
-
- Hey Bud!
-
- I downloaded the Mars pan shot, and I've been looking
at it. I'm no expert, but I see a couple of other objects in the photo
as well.
-
- On the lower right side, there's another piece of blue
and silver like the "bird". It's inside one of the bounce prints.
Also, among the far left upper "exposed" rock formations, there's
a spot of blue that looks like a purse or something.
-
- It's a great picture. I think the silver and blue stuff
could be part of the balloons, but that "bunny rabbit" thing
is just scary!
-
-
- Amen Brother.
-
-
- Dave,
-
- I emailed a PlayBoy contact us address trying to get
them to take up the banner. It looks enough like a PlayBoy Bunny that they
could use it somewhere on one of their Cover Pages. Just a thought! If
we could get them interested enough to make NASA take notice. Maybe if
someone else were to contact them it might give them the idea?
-
- Terry H.
-
-
- Great idea!
-
- Y'now, my wife said that right off the bat, but I never
- thought of putting the idea to action. Good work!
-
- "Playboy Sues NASA for Running Over Bunny"
-
-
- Hello,
-
- I've been reading your analysis with great interest and
I can't believe these ALL CAPS posters who do nothing but complain. TALK
ABOUT WHINERS! You're doing great work and I appreciate the presentation
of material in such an interesting manner. It seems to me that NASA could
easily afford to hire people like yourself to present this stuff to the
public (They are a "public agency" right?). It figures that the
dumbed down sheople (who can't even figure out where the "Caps lock"
key is) would blindly support them in their obvious theft of public intellectual
property..
-
- Dave Smith
-
- Many thanks. You're right: A more forthright presentation
could do them a world of good.
-
-
- Hi Dave,
-
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