{"id":1153745,"date":"2026-08-17T13:41:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T13:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1153745\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T13:41:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T13:41:17","slug":"bizarre-jellyfish-spotted-on-mars-in-resurfaced-nasa-images-news-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1153745\/","title":{"rendered":"Bizarre ‘jellyfish spotted on Mars’ in resurfaced Nasa images | News Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"Side-by-side
\n\t\tWhat do you think it is? (Picture: Nasa)<\/p>\n

When we think of Martians, we tend to think of little grey men<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But if a resurfaced image <\/a><\/strong>taken by a Nasa <\/a>rover is anything to go by, the aliens that call Mars <\/a>home are land-walking \u2018jellyfish\u2019. Maybe.<\/p>\n

The photo was taken by Curiosity in August 2023, 3,924 Martian days, or Sols, into the extraterrestrial explorer\u2019s time exploring the red planet.<\/p>\n

The black-and-white panorama shows the 96-mile-wide Gale Crater, an ancient meteor impact crater, with a black, spindly object on the slopes.<\/p>\n

Curiosity, a 1,000kg mobile laboratory sent to analyse Martian soil and rocks, frequently took photographs as it trundled around. <\/p>\n

Strangely, the dark object was not there in a photograph <\/a><\/strong>taken less than 10 seconds before. It was also the final photo taken that day.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"NASA's<\/p>\n

An image taken at 10.27.33pm Earth time (Picture: Nasa)<\/p>\n

An image taken at 10.27.33pm Earth time (Picture: Nasa)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"NASA's<\/p>\n

An image taken at 10.36.46pm Earth time (Picture: Nasa)<\/p>\n

An image taken at 10.36.46pm Earth time (Picture: Nasa)<\/p>\n

The image caption provides no further information beyond saying the shot was taken by the Right Navigation Camera.<\/p>\n

Kari Sivertzen, who has for months been rummaging through images taken by Curiosity, flagged the image on the social media<\/a> platform X last week.<\/p>\n

Users weren\u2019t entirely sure what to make of the object, with Sivertzen insisting it wasn\u2019t Ingenuity, a tiny helicopter that stands on spindly legs. <\/p>\n

Ingenuity acted as a scout for the life-seeking probe, Perseverance, which was about 2,300 miles away in the Jezero Crater<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n

the Mars helicopter is not close to the Curiosity rover. The helicopter, named Ingenuity, operated alongside the Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater. Meanwhile, the Curiosity rover explores Gale Crater, which is roughly 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers ) away<\/p>\n

\u2014 kari sivertzen (@KariSivertzen) August 12, 2026<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Could it be a UFO?<\/p>\n

Jean Ward, a Mars researcher, said the \u2018tripod object\u2019 could be a \u2018potential UFO<\/a>\u2019, or Unidentified Flying Object. <\/p>\n

\u2018As always, until we get boots on the ground to see these anomalies up close, I can only speculate as to what these objects might be,\u2019 he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another user added: \u2018What on Mars is that?!\u2019<\/p>\n

While a third user commented: \u2018First image of a jellyfish UFO [on] Mars. Great.\u2019<\/p>\n

After all, many, many things have been spotted on Mars that, at first glance, shouldn\u2019t be there. From egg-shaped holes <\/a>and \u2018spiders<\/a><\/strong>\u2018 to rolling hills that resemble the ruins of a city<\/a> and a \u2018crowned face<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

But sceptics said that, like those examples above, this tripod-shaped object could simply be a trick of the light or something our human brains are trying to make sense of too creatively<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"NASA
\n\t\tMany odd things have been seen on Mars, such as this \u2018doorway\u2019 (Picture: Nasa)<\/p>\n

\t\t\"NASA?s
\n\t\tCuriosity is a mobile, nuclear-powered lab (Picture: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS\/Reuters)<\/p>\n

Some questioned whether the object was what space officials call an \u2018artefact\u2019. Rather than a lost relic, this term refers to smudge-shaped corrupted pixels and other glitches in cameras when taking a photo. <\/p>\n

Nasa has been approached for comment. <\/p>\n

Sivertzen said<\/a> in June that he\u2019s digging through the Martian probe archives so he can share anything that \u2018captures his eye\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018I believe there is life on\u00a0other planets, and since NASA has found potential traces of life on Mars, it\u2019s the perfect place to look.\u2019<\/p>\n

Curiosity\u00a0hoped the same. The craft has been roaming\u00a0Gale Crater since 2012, looking for tiny traces of life etched<\/a> in centuries-old rocks.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tWhat do you think the ‘jellyfish’ on Mars is?<\/p>\n