Wood on Mars?

I'll admit that it does really look like a log... But look at it a different way: maybe the dark shadow is actually a fissure into the ground, and the "wood" on top is just the side of the opening. Look at that opening in the upper left of the picture... It looks like this "log", in some ways.

I really hope it IS a log, though. That'd shake things up real good.

I haven't the slightest clue if Mars was once a planet engulfed by plants and water. What I do know is that it's virtually impossible for plant life to exist there now.

Mars is outside of the suitable distance from the Sun, it has a super thin atmosphere, it's axis can change up to 30 degrees within a relatively brief a period of time, and it only has one tectonic plate. Why does all of this matter?

The average recorded temperature on Mars is -81 °F. The maximum temperature is approximately 68 °F and the minimum is -220 °F. So on a good day in the hottest place on the planet the temperature is suitable for life. The rest of the time is simply impossible.

Nuff said.

Looks like an old board off of a pallet, laying next to an old rusty coat hanger.

Even if it is wood, how does that mean it's within the last 40 years? What about the petrified forest? That place is awesome.

"there are vast forests on Mars, ones that are kept from the public."

Yes because if the public ever found out that there were trees on Mars... then... um.... we would know that, there were trees... on Mars. Come on crazy conspiracy guys, you aren't even TRYING any more.

Dr Phil( Plait), the Bad Astronomer, has a post regarding this:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/12/01/pining-for-mars/

I like this part:
"But one website insists it is a leaked image that ‘could get someone killed.’"

when.. in the paragraph just above:

"The unusual image was featured in a NASA press release in 2004,"

So, NASA 'leaks' top secret stuff, through the medium of... official press releases??

Those liars! Telling us there's no wood on mars when there clearly is! Obviously they've been lying so they can hoard all the Mars wood, which everyone knows is superior to Earth wood.

Seriously though, why are there so many conspiracies about space? I mean, how exactly does it immediately effect us? If it ever does come to a point where we, the general public, are effected by whether there's wood up there or not, and I can only assume that would be on account of us BEING there, we'd probably figure it out pretty quick when we started tripping over the randomly placed logs.

Did anyone bother checking out thecrit.com? The author must be insane if he believes all those stories he has posted. And why is the dailymail quoting such a ridiculous website? oh wait its the daily mail...

It is pretty interesting if it is actually a piece of wood.
Who kows what it is though.

It does look like wood, but it also looks like it has been milled into a 4x4.

Of course it also looks like a rock. Considering the weathering pattern on the rocks around it, a wood like texture developing on it doesn't seem that implausible.

Adsy, you're assuming that plant life on other planets would have evolved like the plant life here and it would need Earth-like conditions to thrive. There's no reason to assume plant life on Mars would be so similar to plants here. Again, I really doubt this is a log... But I'm not ruling it out just because EARTH's plant life couldn't survive there.

I also really doubt it's just a rock. That would be a very long, thin, weird rock.

If you saw that Mythbusters where they debunked the moon landing "hoax," it was really striking how shadows could do all kinds of weird stuff, making something convex look concave, etc. I'm still thinking this is a fissure into the ground, and it's just a weird shadow.

That's where it went! I've been looking for that thing for a while, it's my "settin-a-spell-by-the-fire" log. That's the last time I lend it to space-bigfoot, sheesh!

No, no, no. You are all wrong. It's quite simply the largest Cadbury Flake Chocolate Bar.

No, I'm sorry, thats wrong. Thats a piece of wood from when the mithbuster blew up a water heater.

It's Rick Astley's wooden corpse. RIP Rick.

wow really that's great to know there are forest in mars

That's nothin'!
You can clearly see part of the patio in the foreground. Mars is in suburbia.

OK, I know this isn't really relevant. But I just wanted to suggest that EVERYONE should look up "crop circles" on youtube and check some of the stuff that's been coming up recently out.

Not circles, but insanely elaborate and detailed images. Without any flaw of any kind. Hundreds last year alone. And still, noone has been seen making them - not once, not ever. Explain that!

Johnny Cat wrote: It’s Rick Astley’s wooden corpse. RIP Rick.

Those rumors are completly false, as are the ones that Rick Astley is an alien and Rick Rolling everyone for world domination purposes.

buddhaflow, how about providing some links to go along with your self rightous attitude?

One reason there are so many conspiracy theories about Mars and the Moon is that NASA has repeatedly released misleading information about its methods and findings. Obviously retouched photos, refusal to give straight answers, and outright lies do not inspire much faith in the organisation. Why, for example, did NASA repeatedly claim that it was impossible to photograph the Moon with the Hubble telescope, only to eventually do so? NASA's continued hanky panky makes me question anything they tell us, and I am interested to see what we learn now that India has entered the space business. Perhaps some of the competing space agencies will be more forthcoming.

not exactly milled but rough-hewn. it certainly is an anomaly worthy of considerable mention. in nasa's inimitable style they are completely mute on the subject. is it out of fear of ridicule, fear of ignorance, fear of revelation of something already clandestinely known? even if it was just another rock it's unique enough in its structure to question why it doesn't look like its homogeneous background. come on sheeple, where's your innate human curiosity; gone with the wind of the prevailing attitude of accepting the hair-brained opinions of a controled media and a government gone bad? it is so much easier to ridicule rather than to speculate, which takes a lot more courage these days. don't step out of the box, at least not with both feet.

If there are rocks that can look like bacon and eggs why is is so hard to believe there can be rocks that look like a piece of wood.

if it is a rock, why aren't there other similar rocks around? in fact, why aren't there any other rocks around? rock or not, it' still an unexplained anomaly that begs more than a dismissal.

Now if we zoom in and find an image of Jesus or the Virgin Mary in the grain, now THAT would be something!

Guy 1: "The photo accidentally a whole conspiracy theory rush in the blogosphere."

Guy 2: "The photo did what?"

Guy 1: "A whole conspiracy theory rush in the blogosphere."

Guy 2: "You're not making any sense!"

"And still, noone has been seen making them - not once, not ever. Explain that!"

They tend to be in sparsely populated places and are stamped out during the night?

@Gauldar:

Well, see, YouTube has this box where you can type things and it will actually give you a video of what you typed in, kind of like the uber-geek video store clerk

OK, fair enough, here's a couple links.

http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=x66ZSvtRzKI
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=I2IHn6qcRTA

It is simply not believable to me that all of those were made by even a large and highly skilled team of hoaxers at night. It is not just the fact that they've never been seen, but just the absolute perfection of them. They don't have any flaws whatsoever. They look like they were designed by computer algorithm. Try to draw any one of those designs freehand on a piece of paper, and see how it turns out. Now imagine you are stomping about in tall grass trying to recreate the same design 500 times bigger. Good luck.

Now, as I see it, there are two possible explanations.

One, an active and empathetic alien race is directly trying to communicate with us in the langage most common to our two species - the language of symbols. If that's the case, we would be well advised to listen.

Two, it is some sort of military technology, such as computer controlled microwaves being beamed down from space or from airplanes. That would explain why the preponderance (although certainly not all) are in the U.K. Who knows why they would be doing it, it might be to create a false belief in E.T.'s.

Either way, it is something that deserves to re-enter the national dialogue and imagination, especially considering the increasing complexity and symbolism of the more recent designs.

If you can present any other plausible explanations than those two, please go for it.

Do you think that was really Mars? Or were the pictures taken in California?

The real question is, do martians play tetris? If not, what are those tetris blocks doing in the picture?

Now Martians can make Woodys. Martians have woodys.

Oh yeah sure! Aliens built a little campfire on Mars and left behind a log.
NAH-lol.
Adsy, I do like your statement, you explained it very well, but how do we know that there isn't bacteria that could sestain Mars's climate- in positioning of the planet and distance of the sun.
I think and may be you as well believe it is a rut in the ground or a shadow or computer edited spoof/hoax.
I do believe NASA is keeping secrets from the public and it would make sense if they did. But just because I'm not a scientist, that doesn't mean I don't have the right to know NASA's secrets.

If there is infact water on Mars there must be forest and this log may have once gotten washed up by a river, then the river dried or something and the log remained.
According to picture however, this log looks new or atleast cemetrically cut by a being who lived on Mars at one point, before it died.

One, What the hell is that stuff in the bottom of the picture, it looks like a lot of farm land.

Two: to the person who's talking about crop circles, People admitted to making them. People make them all the time. Just because no one sees them just goes to prove that people are unobservant and that these people are good at not getting caught.