Does this Mars Photograph Depict Martian Plant Life? Sol 3474 (May 17, 2022)

Information Case Only; No Formal Investigation by The Black Vault

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This photograph was taken on Sol 3474 (May 17, 2022) on the surface of Mars.

Not long after another photograph on the Martial surface circulated that some said to be a “doorway on Mars,” another was captured that seems to give the impression to some of plant-life.

The photo was first found by Joe White from the YouTube channel ArtAlienTV on May 19, 2022. The official NASA source link is found below. In addition, special thanks to Paul Scott Anderson for alerting The Black Vault to the photo.

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The photograph was taken by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3474 (2022-05-15 13:35:22 UTC).

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Possible Explanations

Beyond the hope by some this depicts plant-life of some kind, other explanations have circulated online.

  1. A hard mineral vein: The theory here is that there is a mineral vein within the rock, and although the surrounding rock eroded over time, the mineral vein was harder and did not.
  2. A fulgurite: Fulgurites are natural tubes or crusts of glass formed by the fusion of silica (quartz) sand or rock from a lightning strike.

The Black Vault endorses no theory, and this page is for information only. There was no formal investigation.

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This post was published on May 31, 2022

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