Curiosity Mars Image Ignites UFO Buzz Over 1 Fleeting 'Jellyfish' Shape

3 articles · Updated · AOL · Aug 18

A 2023 Curiosity navigation image has gone viral after a tiny dark form on a Gale Crater ridge appeared in one frame and vanished in another taken less than a minute later.
NASA’s own imaging quirks offer a likely explanation: cosmic rays can hit camera sensors, and in a low-resolution 1-megapixel black-and-white frame a few altered pixels can look like a distinct object.
Enhanced reposts amplified the effect, with smoothing and interpolation potentially making the shape appear more organic, while pareidolia pushed viewers toward seeing a jellyfish, UFO or tripod-like craft.
Ingenuity is not a plausible match: the helicopter operated in Jezero Crater more than 2,000 miles away, flew only about 10.3 miles in total, and ended its mission in January 2024.
NASA has not issued a formal statement, leaving the image unexplained publicly even as online speculation ranges from camera glitch theories to alien-technology claims.