back to article Spirit discovers life on Mars

A Chinese website has reportedly posted the first sighting of Martian life in the form of a mysterious figure caught on camera by the Spirit rover: A closer look at the mystery Martian figure According to the Mail on Sunday, the sighting came after alien hunters spent "years" scouring NASA images for evidence of little green …

COMMENTS

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  1. Paul Naylor

    Trick of the light

    It's obviously a shadow or some weird rock formation. The funniest reaction has to be the Daily Mail's precis of the photo. The headlines next week will be something along the lines of "House prices soar as priority housing given to Martians".

    And the Express will be "Madeleine McCann in Martian kidnapper / Princess Diana link"...

    If I'm wrong then, of course, I welcome our Martian Overlords...

  2. Ben Cross
    Go

    Little Green Men!!!

    Hey! i know martians are meant to be "green"...but where is the green colouring on that thing?

    looks more brown to me! - like its been a martian who hasn't washed for many a year.

  3. Smallbrainfield

    I looks a bit like the Copenhagen mermaid statue

    http://www.fantompoet.com/index.php?showimage=489

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Its...

    The Virgin Mary!

    How long before NASA auctions it off to a casino via eBay?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    it's....

    a tusken raider!

  6. Joey
    Alien

    That's not a figure...

    There is NO life on Mars and that is not a figure. It's just a statue of a woman beckoning!

  7. Paul F
    Alien

    Golly.

    And it must be related to Bigfoot and Nessie, since it's out of focus (always a guarantor of authenticity).

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    is it just me or....

    any one else think that this is just a effect of the rocks on the ridge and on the ground behind?

  9. Pete mcQuail
    Alien

    Pizza home delivery

    does work out there after all then.

  10. michael

    did I not see him

    on starwars?

  11. dek

    And another!

    Isn't that a peeping tom type figure in the upper left?

  12. Chris Miller
    Alien

    Repeat after me:

    Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Comment on ‘Spirit discovers life on Mars’

    It's a Jawa...

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mars *is* Tatooine

    Clearly, this photo shows a Tusken raider lurking about the surface of Mars.

  15. Carl

    Mars or Tattooine?

    Looks like a Tusken Raider to me.

  16. Matt
    Alien

    where are the Hendersons?

    looks like bigfoot is loose on mars....

  17. Andrew
    Thumb Down

    One word.

    Pareidolia.

  18. Harvey Trowell
    Coat

    The Little Marsmaid

    Looks a bit like that statue in Copenhagen, I wonder if it's a copy.

    Actually, looks a bit more like a rock shaped a bit like the above, but then "Spirit discovers rock on Mars" isn't much of a headline, is it?

    I'll get my coat, the title was a shocker and I'll be lucky not to be court-martianed. I'll get my other coat too.

  19. Johnny FireBlade
    Thumb Up

    They're having a laugh...

    Such speculation is worthy of Ian Hislop himself! That's funny! ROFL!

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @David

    It is just you.

  21. Dennis
    Black Helicopters

    Looking in the wrong place

    Damn. We've all been looking in the wrong place. It's not Area 51. The Martians have visited Copenhagen and tried to copy the Little Mermaid statue.

  22. Peter Darby
    Alien

    Jawa or Tusken raider?

    YOU be the judge!

  23. Senor Beavis
    Paris Hilton

    It's...

    Paris Hilton

  24. Chris Jones-Gill
    Alien

    It's not SandPeople, but we are meant to think they are

    No Gaffi sticks or bantha tracks, only imperial stormtroopers are so precise ;-)

    Or on a more musical note...

    The chances of anything coming from Mars,

    Are a million to one they said,

    The chances of anything coming from Mars,

    Are a million to one, but still they come.

  25. jai
    Coat

    tusken raider

    it's definately a Sandperson - Jawa's wear much darker clothing.

    Spirit needs to be careful though "Sandpeople always ride single file to hide their strength and numbers."

    i'm off to the Tarshi station to pick up some power converters.....

  26. Andrew
    Happy

    @ Chris Jones-Gill

    Dee-dee-doo.... doo-doo-doo doo-doo-doo...

    Dee-dee-doo.... doo-doo-doo doo-doo-doo...

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    amanfrommars

    He has been posting on the Reg for ages

  28. b166er

    Well done the author

    for providing all necessary links and materials.

    I reckon it's the petrified remains of the knight of the First Crusade from Indiana Jones; The Last Crusade.

    Interesting

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    You...

    ...ain't seen me, right?

  30. Geoff Webber

    what next

    Black helicopters !

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That'll be a siren then

    Obviously just flown in from Titan, which is why we didn't spot it before.

  32. Skaplanet
    Happy

    Pose ?

    Looks like Marvin The Martian is the

    Happyner in the most unusual "Brenting" location winhttp://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/happy_32.png

  33. MG

    Phew, they're only 3 inches tall.

    Nice to know we could fend off an invasion with a couple of hungry cats.

  34. Andy Taylor

    Was it a prank by the same person....

    ...who placed this small pink dinosaur?

    http://www.geonet.org.nz/images/volcano/volcams/whiteisland/whiteis.jpg

  35. Les Matthew
    Thumb Up

    Re: amanfromMars

    But not recently from what I've seen.

    Now we know why. ;)

  36. Torben Mogensen

    If you look long enough...

    ... at eroded rocks, you will eventually find one that looks interesting (for suitable definitions of "interesting").

    Given these sad "alien hunters" have apparently spent man years on this stuff, it is a wonder they haven't found anything sooner.

    But, really, it is probably just the flash-frozen remains of a member of a top-secret failed manned mission to Mars. :-)

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    it's patterson's bigfoot!!

    http://paranormal.about.com/library/blclassic_patterson_bigfoot.htm

    that thing pops up pretty much anywhere.

  38. Dan
    Happy

    You're all wrong

    I think you'll find it is amanfrommars - note the lack of complete gibberish in this thread? That's because he has nipped home for a holiday.

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Ewok!

    It's not a Jawa, or a Tusken raider, it's a stranded Ewok!

  40. Paul
    Coat

    Poor security

    They are producing these images on the same set that the so called Moon landing was created on. There must be plenty of places on this planet with this type of terrain. Use of a colour filter rather than the Black and White images from the 'Moon' now make it look like Mars.

    Somebody obviously got through the security perimeter and ended up in shot.

    Mine is the foil hat, thanks. Taxi!

  41. Craig

    of course

    if you look closely enough you can clearly see the rock woman snaking on a crisps bearing an image of Christ.

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Aha! Bin Laden

    I knew the bearded cnut must be somewhere..

    So do I get a reward for pointing out where to send the missiles?

  43. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    It's Lord Voldermoort!!!

    You can clearly see Nagini beneath him.

  44. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Not very PC, but...

    So I guess the second shock revelation is that at least some of these Martians are gay? (see the "I'm a little tea-pot thing" with going on with its wrist). I know it's not interplanetarily politically correct, but someone had to say it...

  45. Andrew Campbell
    Alien

    Burton R.

    <voice type="Richard Burton">No one would have suspected that we were being viewed from mars, like insects under a microscope.</voice>

  46. Lloyd
    Thumb Up

    It's quite simple

    Send the rover back there and wait, after all:

    "Sand-people scare easily but will soon be back in greater numbers"

  47. Edward Pearson

    Obvious.

    Its a rock formation and a shadow, or maybe its santa holding a bag of ferrets, fuck knows.

  48. theotherone
    Alien

    isn't that

    Al Gore....?

  49. Martin Gregorie
    Happy

    That's not all....

    Follow the rock-woman's gaze past the blackish rock in PIA10214.jpg and you find... Skippy the Kangaroo!

  50. Andy Hards
    Alien

    @ Torben Morgensen

    He/she/it posted a few comments on the last BOFH just a few days ago.

  51. steve

    1 sure way to know if its real

    is when the government tries to cover it up lol

    "its one of our early test weather balloons honest"

    Then we'll know the real deal

  52. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    Bad taste maybe

    But could it be Steve Fosset wandering around after the first "millionaire adventurer" private space trip to Mars? It can't be Richard Branson, Spirit would be finding a sea of "Virgin Spacelines" signage and press kits if it was.

  53. thomas k.

    Dervish

    Looks to me more like a dervish from Guild Wars. Seems to have dropped his scythe somewhere, though.

  54. Brian
    Go

    Necron

    It looks like a Necron Wraith! We knew it, the machine god does live on mars!

  55. This post has been deleted by its author

  56. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    must be a terorist

    better spend many trillions of dollars to go and nuke the Martians, since they might have WMDs

  57. Bad Beaver
    Alien

    @ Paul F

    It looks exactly like Bigfoot, to be precise!

  58. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Re: It's not SandPeople, but we are meant to think they are

    Wow. I thought I was the only person to own Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds.

  59. John Parker
    Coat

    amanfrommars

    I hope amanfrommars is reading all the comments about him (from mars via some kind of tunnelling wifi).

    Do ya know what amanfrommars's wife is called...?

    awomanfrommars.

    Mine's the tight-fitting futuristic lycra tunic, with the mobile phone in the shape of a Star Trek communicator badge, if you please. Space-taxi!

  60. benito darder oliver

    it's a goof...

    it's not more plausible that's somebody from the maintenance crew from the rovers?

    or maybe somebody from the crew of "capricorn one"?

    btw...how i would like to have all the free time needed to spot that in that huge photo... Sic...

  61. MikeC
    Paris Hilton

    Red!

    This this is the problem with leaving automated robots roaming around in the desert with red colour filters on the camera lenses. People will inevitably end up wandering into shot before being chased off by people in black helicopters!

    Paris, because I wasn't sure which icon to use - the alien for the martian explanation or get my coat so I don't have to rush finding it later when the nice men in black helicopters some looking!

  62. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    Hmm...

    Looks like Nigel and Ozzie got their wormhole generator working then!

    (For those who get the reference, did anyone else think there was a rather strong resemblance between the above two characters and Woz & Stevie J?)

  63. Kevin Peacock

    I for one....

    ....welcome our new Martian overlords.

  64. Adrian Esdaile
    Jobs Halo

    He's not the Messiah! No, wait! HE IS!

    It's that wacky fictional Aramaic dude - JESUS! Quick, phone Ebay and get some of those idiot casinos bidding!

  65. Luther Blissett

    Hallelujah! And now...

    perhaps NASA boffins can get down to some serious science without having their press officers continually e-mailing them demanding to know "Have we found it yet? When are we going to find it? Are we going to find it? Is that IT? Yuk - you mean to say THAT is intelligent?"

    Just don't tell them about life on Jupiter.

  66. bothwell
    Black Helicopters

    Yes!

    By dek - Isn't that a peeping tom type figure in the upper left?

    Yes! He's wearing a tie! Wait, maybe he's a Man in Black.

  67. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    @Anonymous Coward - amanfrommars's wife is called?

    His mother

    amumfrommars

    His Sister

    Well that's obvious - Paris Hilton!

  68. Ray
    Alien

    Life on Mars

    Its Lord Lucan..

    Finaly found after all these years

  69. Aries1B
    Coat

    Look to the right...

    ...on the panoramic pic. (Yes, dear, those pints are mine.) *Ga-Gulp* See the rectangular 'thing' that doesn't look like a building foundation? No? *Imbibe* Didn't think so. *Quaff*

    Someone take my keys; my this gutter looks comfy; g'night.

  70. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    Found!

    So that's where Bin-Laden's been hanging out...

  71. herman
    Happy

    He must have grokked it

    Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land:

    “Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed"

  72. Mr Larrington

    Yerrall wrong!

    It's Lord Lucan. That bomber on the moon was getting a bit crowded with Elvis, Glenn Miller and Shergar.

  73. Jon Axtell
    Paris Hilton

    Scale

    If you look at the big picture and see how far away the "figure" is from Spirit, you'll find that it's not that far. Therefore the "figure" is probably only inches^h^h^h^h^h^h centimeters high. Not just brown martians, but eensy-weensy-tiny brown martians.

    [Paris because she probably on mars, her mind seems to be at least!]

  74. William Towle
    Thumb Up

    Million to One ... Against

    "Or on a more musical note...

    The chances of anything coming from Mars,

    Are a million to one they said,

    The chances of anything coming from Mars,

    Are a million to one, but still they come"

    Damn poetic license. Better-known that version may be, but I've always thought it makes more sense to quote the book/radio version(s*): "The chances of anything man-like coming from Mars are a million to one against"

    * Patrick Moore as Ogilvy: inspired.

  75. TeeCee Gold badge
    Happy

    Tiny.

    Crikey, just found it in the big piccie. If they're that small we are so screwed.

    A humble diplomatic apology ain't going to compensate for the fact that we've been rolling our giant, city-crushing, spiky-wheeled robots all over their planet for quite a while now.

  76. stuart meadowcroft
    Alien

    Duh!

    It's aliens alright, but a curveball from those from far-off planets - if they can keep us guessing within our own solar system long enough they'll have time to perfect the force field that will stop us from ever getting beyond pluto and infecting the rest of the galaxy.

  77. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    According to the Google Ads

    It's an angel guide. Just about says it all really.

  78. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Also available in white...maybe

    Anyone else notice how dirty the panels are? Maybe our martian friend over there can come over and give the panels a wee wipe..

  79. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    BTW

    It's clearly Sil, the evil little slug creature from 'Vengeance on Varos'. And you people call yourself Doctor Who fans. (Though you'lll be forgiven if it turns out that el Reg has invented a brain wipe technique to remove all memories of everything relating to Colin Baker. If so make an exception to 'Vengeance' - it was decent little satire.)

    PS: nice to see that The Register's cookies now work with Opera.

  80. Neil Smith
    Coat

    Now that's something...

    I would buy for a dollar.

  81. Doug
    Joke

    Its....

    ..all's thats left of someone blindly following a Satnav gizmo...

  82. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Not again...

    "Stupid techs. I told them to keep off the sound stage while we shot the pictures..."

  83. andy gibson
    Coat

    @ Francis Boyle

    I certainly don't call myself a Doctor Who fan. I don't live with my parents and have a real girlfriend and everything.

  84. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Peeping Tom?

    Surely, since it was a Chinese team that discivered this phenomenon, that should be Peip'ing Tom (unfortunately, the modern spelling would be Beiping, which ruins the pun. Don't the Chinese have a sense of humour?)

  85. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yes ! It's Amy !

    My image enhancement software reveals it to be Amy Winehouse leaving rehab.....

  86. M.J.Smith

    M.J.Smith

    I took the clearest image I could find and tweaked it the best that I could. I swear that it shows Captain Kirk fighting the green lizard creature from Star Trek.

    I have a feeling this is an early "April Fools" joke. I believe someone cut and pasted images from the T.V. show onto an actual immage from NASA.

  87. The Other Steve
    Alien

    OOOOOOOOOO LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

    No Alacrity, it's not just you.

  88. Prasanth

    IT's a fake image

    I found a website: http://www.jojas.com/news_details.aspx?newsid=2826 showing the real secret behind this picture

  89. black_triangles
    Alert

    yeti / bigfoot / martian

    is it me or does it look like our chinese freinds took an american legend and photoshoped it on mars. either that or the flew it up there on there last attempt to beet russia on to mars ??

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