We humans have had a long fascination with Mars. The red planet has been a source of endless speculation and fantasy, from The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, to the “face on Mars,” and the current spate of weird objects allegedly seen by NASA rovers. UFO enthusiasts have seen all sorts of things over the years in NASA photos. Traffic lights, a sheep-man, a rat, an iguana, and other anomalies. Traffic lights and silly animals aside, one researcher now says new NASA footage depicts a UFO crash on Mars. But did a flying saucer really land on the planet?
A Crash on the Surface
South African UFO researcher Jean Ward was scanning through footage taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and found an interesting image. He spotted a “strange trench” at the bottom of the Candor Chasma, the largest known canyon in our solar system. It appears to be a long streak in the dirt. At the end of it appears to be a disc-like object, half buried in the sand. In his YouTube video of his analysist of the footage, Ward states, “It looks like a disc-shaped craft or object came in at a very low angle and crashed into the surface of Mars leaving this strange (trench) behind it.”
Ward goes on to speculate that the craft is approximately 40 to 50 feet in diameter, and notes that it is about the same width as the trench that trails behind it. He goes on to add that “It looks like a disc that’s partially elevated on one side as it plowed into the surface.” It’s a striking image, to be sure. And at first glance, it definitely looks intriguing. But a closer look reveals that all may not be as it seems. So did a UFO crash on Mars?
Dunes Everywhere
At a certain point in the video, Ward zooms in on the alleged “flying saucer.” Once he does, some interesting details come to light. The circular edge of the saucer looks very familiar. In fact, it looks identical in almost every wat to the numerous sand dunes that have seemingly built up in the trench behind it. There is a deep shadow along the right edge. The light from the sun illuminates the left side. And there is a less intense shadow on the shallow, inner center section of the “saucer.”
This all tells me that the object is not, in fact, a saucer. Honestly, it’s probably not an object at all. To me, it just looks like a curved sand dune. In all likelihood, it’s caused by the cavern that was caused at the end of the trench when a space rock landed. Capturing the wind, it swirls the sand to make a more curved dune. Either that, or it’s a flying saucer whose leading edge is just as high as the dunes, and its concave part is just as shallow as the ground. Quite a coincidence if that’s the case.
Ultimately, I think we once again have an overzealous UFO “researcher” who is falling victim to their own confirmation bias. They scan these NASA photos and videos purposely looking for strange objects, UFOs, and anomalies, and then seemingly find them everywhere. And in the end, that’s really the issue. If one goes into this sort of thing determined to find UFOs, they will be found. Even when they aren’t really there.
The Search Continues…
Something definitely seems to have crashed on Mars. But I don’t think it was piloted by little green men. The most plausible explanation here is that it’s a meteorite or some other form of space debris. The dune at the end of the trench is curved, giving it the illusion of a half-buried saucer. We may one day find something truly out of this world on Mars. But for now, this saucer has to join the Pareidolia Hall of Fame along with the traffic light, sheep-man, and iguana.
