A bizarre jellyfish-like object captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover in 2023 has some people convinced that the tiny shape could be something far more mysterious.
The strange figure appears on a distant Martian ridge but disappears in another image of the same spot taken less than a minute later, fueling the speculation.
The image has sparked wild theories ranging from UFOs and alien technology to the possibility of an alien attack in the near future.
Highlights
- A strange “jellyfish” shape in a 2023 NASA Mars image has sent the internet into a frenzy.
- Independent Mars researcher Jean Ward called it a potential UFO and said it resembles a tripod-like object.
- From cosmic-ray glitches to alien technology, people have floated several wild theories about the bizarre Martian image.
One person reacted, “Normally I see these mars pictures with ‘objects' in the background and it's just rocks or something but they got me on this one.”
A strange jellyfish-like object captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover in 2023 has suddenly sparked an online frenzy
NASA’s Curiosity rover captured the now-viral image on August 20, 2023, during Sol 3924 of its mission while exploring Gale Crater on Mars.
Taken by Curiosity’s Right Navigation Camera, the original image is a low-resolution, 1-megapixel black-and-white frame designed primarily to help the rover navigate its surroundings.
Somewhere on a distant ridge, however, a tiny dark shape appears to resemble a bulbous object with thin structures trailing beneath it.
The strange detail recently caught the attention of space enthusiasts, who began sharing enhanced versions of the image and comparing the shape to a jellyfish, UFO, or even a tripod-like structure.
The unusual shape quickly divided social media users, with some convinced it could be evidence of something far more unusual than a camera artifact.
One user wrote, “So, Nasa has released an image of a 'jellyfish ufo’ on Mars? Just a reminder....”
The bizarre shape prompted wild alien theories and even panicked warnings that humanity should prepare for an evacuation
Another netizen added, “Well if we get to the point that astronauts admit that they always knew, would the person nearest to them punch them in the face as bad as they can for not telling us!!!!”
“You can say it’s from me!!! It’s the bare minimum they deserve!!! Keeping something this important a secret is criminal, especially if there is technology that could help the world!!!”
Others were considerably less convinced, with one person writing, “Yea and it is a glitch on the screen from a sun flare or whatever, it's not a darn jellyfish floating around mars like people are going to say smh.”
Another added, “To me it looks like a simple glitch in the image transfer. The shape's outline looks too clear and pixel-like compared to the surroundings.”
Others expressed, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. We'd better start the evacuation.”
Adding fuel to the speculation, independent Mars researcher Jean Ward also weighed in on X, writing, “Here I present another potential UFO/UAP photographed in the Martian sky.”
He continued, “This one seems to be interacting with the surface. It also reminds me of a tripod-like object. As always, until we get boots on the ground to see these anomalies up close, I can only speculate as to what these objects might be.”
The object may actually be a fleeting camera artifact made stranger by image enhancement
Despite the UFO theories, the shape's appearance and disappearance offer an important clue.
According to NASA, high-energy cosmic rays can strike spacecraft camera sensors and produce temporary pixel abnormalities during an exposure.
Because digital cameras read pixel information row by row, the effect can sometimes create streaks or geometric patterns extending across neighboring pixels.
In a tiny, low-resolution image, those few affected pixels can consequently resemble something much more recognizable than they actually are.
Software interpolation and smoothing can fill gaps between pixels and round off blocky edges, potentially turning irregular pixels into something that looks surprisingly organic.
There is also the issue of pareidolia, the tendency of the human brain to recognize familiar objects or patterns in ambiguous shapes.
Once viewers see a rounded body and trailing lines, a jellyfish becomes an obvious comparison.
Some people thought the object could be NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, but the geography of Mars makes that theory impossible
The unusual shape also prompted speculation that it could be NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, but the locations of the two missions make that explanation impossible.
Curiosity was exploring Gale Crater when it captured the image, while Ingenuity operated alongside the Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater, more than 2,000 miles (over 3,200 kilometers) away.
Ingenuity also could not have simply flown over to Curiosity’s location.
Over its mission, the helicopter traveled roughly 10.3 miles (16.6 kilometers), and it relied on a short-range radio connection with Perseverance rather than being able to communicate independently over thousands of miles.
Its mission also ended in January 2024 after its rotors were damaged, which means the tiny shape in Curiosity’s August 2023 image cannot reasonably be Ingenuity, despite widespread belief.
For now, the viral “jellyfish” image remains unexplained, as NASA has not released a formal statement addressing it.
“Theory: With the boom of AI, our previous tech left on Mars is picking up the signal and traveling to Earth. We are the aliens,” one skeptic wrote
