UFO researcher finds alleged ancient gateway in a Mars photo
According to an amateur UFO researcher, one of the images taken by the Perseverance rover shows the gateway of an ancient civilization and a tiny doorway. NASA has not yet responded to the claim, but it previously explained a similar case as a natural rock fracture.
The image was originally taken by NASA's Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater, with its Mastcam-Z cameras, in June 2021, on the 107th Martian day of the mission. The crater once held a lake, which is why NASA is searching here for traces of ancient microbial life. The mosaic shows boulders, and in the background a taller rock formation with a narrow recess that has a dark center and a tapered top.
Scott C. Waring, who runs the website UFO Sightings Daily, shared the image and called the recess a "portal," which he believes was left behind by a lost civilization. By his own account, Waring also identified a second "doorway" in the image, only about 18 centimeters high and 13 centimeters wide, leading into a pyramid-shaped formation. He did not explain what method he used to calculate these dimensions, nor did he provide evidence that NASA had secretly examined the formation.
What do we know, and what don't we?
What is certain is that the image is a genuine NASA photo, and that the formation in it resembles an entrance. However, the actual size of the recess cannot be determined from the panorama itself, since that would require knowing the exact distance from the rover or a nearby object that could serve as scale. Waring's estimate is therefore unverifiable, and it is also unclear whether NASA has ever examined this particular formation.
A similar case has come up before: in August, Waring posted an image taken by the Curiosity rover in May 2022, in which he called a dark, rectangular opening a doorway, and speculated about why NASA did not approach the formation with the rover. NASA stated at the time that naturally occurring fractures are common on Mount Sharp, and that the opening in question was created where a piece of rock broke away along such intersecting fracture lines. According to the official measurement, that opening was only about 30 centimeters tall and 40 centimeters wide, roughly the size of a dog door.
NASA has not yet offered an official explanation for the latest image from Jezero Crater.
The sober take
NASA has not commented on the latest image, but it explained an earlier, similar door-like formation on Mount Sharp as a natural rock fracture, which turned out to be much smaller than it first appeared.