Rat Spotted in NASA Mars Photo

So the big news this week seems to be the so-called “Mars rat.” Yes, UFO enthusiasts are claiming that a rat has been spotted in a photo taken by NASA’s Mars rover, Curiosity. Or it may be a lizard. But some silly people, who are doing some of that fancy “rational thinking” that them city folks do, are saying it’s probably just a rock that looks like a rat. Or a lizard.

Is that a rat… on Mars?!

Yes, according to a theory from one determined man in Japan who recently scoured dozens of NASA photos taken by the space agency’s Mars Curiosity rover. A post on UFO Sightings Daily shows the “Mars rat,” which appears to be a creature with legs and a tail among rocks on the planet.

As the blog notes, the figure “seems to resemble a rodent but also may be a lizard.”

The alleged Mars rat should not be confused with a similar sighting first pointed out in December: An image taken by the Curiosity rover at the “Rocknest” site in September shows a rodent-like figure that most closely resembles a squirrel. However, as UFO Sightings Daily notes, that observation may have been staged by NASA as part of an experiment.

While this most recent rodent sighting may be yet another NASA test (or the result of a few perfectly placed rocks), it’s most likely not a living creature. After all, this is something NASA would make an announcement about, right?

Earlier this year, the agency revealed that the Curiosity rover uncovered signs that life may have once existed on Mars. NASA scientists cited a rock sample the rover analyzed in February that contained elements necessary for supporting life.

“We have characterized a very ancient, but strangely new ‘gray Mars’ where conditions once were favorable for life,” John Grotzinger, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement at the time. “Curiosity is on a mission of discovery and exploration, and as a team we feel there are many more exciting discoveries ahead of us in the months and years to come.”

If life did exist on Mars, or on any other planet, how sucky would it be if it was just rats?