The NASA Phoenix Mars probe landed on the red planet just about a week ago. The first pictures from the Phoenix high resolution stereoscopic camera posted on NASA website were in raw format.

Without getting into much technical detail I’ll just point out that so-called “raw” images are direct data dumps from the imaging sensor and don’t look particularly hot until they are processed.

The black and white image to the left is an example of a “raw” picture.

I downloaded this picture last week and processed it using some proprietary imaging software. I spotted the unusual shape in the red circle but couldn’t tell what it was.

In contrast to sharp Martian rocks the outline of the unidentified object seemed organic if not anthropomorphic. It really bothered me that the object seemed so familiar but I could not figure out what it was.

Surprisingly there was no official announcement from NASA that anything out of the ordinary was captured by the camera. As you can see, it is very difficult to make out the object in the raw image but I would think that the scientists at NASA had already processed the photo and studied the full color version. I would not want to jump to a conclusion of another government coverup but if NASA makes no squeak about this photo I may start to suspect that something could be going on.

Every other Saturday I go to swap meets looking for records. I post pictures of some of my better finds on these pages. This morning I didn’t find any interesting vinyl but I took a picture of this adult man rummaging through boxes. His mooning ass reminded me of the Mars photograph. I ran home as quick as I could to take look at the Phoenix image.

That was it! Phoenix documented a new Mars moon rising! It’s remarkable how this macro-geological formation is similar to a man’s ass. Not that long ago there was a Viking photograph of Martian surface that looked strikingly similar to the face of Jesus. I hope that NASA will dig with their cameras deeper into this odd looking shape and perhaps use the 2 meter scoop to collect a sample.