Martian Surface Greets Satellite Camera With Uncanny Image Of A Bear

While combing through the terrains of Mars, there’s one thing the HiRise camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter didn’t expect to see: a bear. Well, not an actual living, breathing animal, but the face of one among the many rock formations gracing the planet’s surface. 

Scientists were surprised to find a natural rock formation that looked akin to a cartoon drawing of the creature, with a circular line framing its head, two small twin craters making up the eyes, and a v-shaped collapsed structure as the snout and jaw. 

According to scientists from the University of Arizona, the outline of the bear’s face is likely the result of sediment settling into a subterranean impact crater, while the collapsed structure could be a volcanic or mud vent. 

It’s no wonder we often spot familiar shapes in the environments around us, considering humans love making connections to faces. This isn’t the first time it’s happened on the Red Planet either, with Gizmodo noting that a rock formation was said to look similar to a human face back in 1976.

Other sightings on Mars include a one-foot-tall ‘doorway’, spoons, lights, blueberries, and even a woman. Most of these, as expected, are just tricks of light and perspective, together with how the rocks are formed. 

[via Gizmodo and University of Arizona, cover image via NASA / JPL / University of Arizona]