More Faked Mars Photos

Hey All,

It seems as though Mars has been picking up quite a bit recently so I decided to throw this into the mix. It was a short video I created to promote a documentary on Martian Enigmas and Oddities. In a nutshell the four images were all taken from the same physical location within a (roughly) three minute span. You can see the upper wall of the crater almost melting away over the time. The video does not go into much detail (we were trying to keep it short and sweet) but try throwing the images into an imaging program (Photoshop et al.) and see if you can find some of the other strange aspects of the frames.



Links to the original sources:

Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4

2 other things - The narration is intentionally heavy handed - we were trying to provoke a response out of the client. I typically tend to be a little bit reserved in my judgments of these sort of things. Also, the "Image 1" text doesn't change. I know. The time is correct though.

-S

[edit on 28-1-2008 by snoober]

[edit on 28-1-2008 by snoober]

[edit on 28-1-2008 by snoober]

Video dont seem to work . Will give the pics a look tho while i wait . Thanks

Problems with the embed. Provided a direct link.

-S

Sent you a U2U that may be helpful
Thanks again for the vid . Will probably edit this post after review

[edit on 28-1-2008 by oLDWoRLDDiSoRDeR]

reply to post by snoober


Extremely good findings. Send it to CNN! Send it to whatever media outlet will air the story over television.

At first I thought it was the periscope camera and we are seeing images taken from on high then another as it was lower and the last as it was back to rover level. But the main rocks dont seem to be affected by this change of perspective at all. Very strange, oh and the images look like they have been altered too, the crater rim part, looks like a smudge tool was used. Im looking forward to seeing what other members think about this!

Just as long as no-one starts calling people lemmings - you know who you are!

Agreed. If you begin to sharpen the image you can see some brush strokes and such come out.. I'm pretty convinced that the image is altered but I can't definitively figure out why it was. The way I look at it is that it was altered to obscure something that happened over a short period of time from top to bottom of the crater wall. Short of an EBE climbing down to dust off the solar panels of the rover (just kidding!) I think that liquid water is the best culprit for the obfuscation. Some sort of seepage perhaps?

-S

I don't often comment on threads like this one, but I have to say this is very impressive. It seems clear the strata have been removed for some reason.

Why is that?

However, it is hard to believe this was intentionally done for presumed 'conspiratorial reasons', when clearly the unaltered image is still nonetheless made available by NASA.

EDIT:

OK, I think I have a partial answer.

It has something to do with the filters used in the sequences.

The OP's photos use Filters 5, 6 & 7.

Looking at other panoramic views from Opportunity, I see the same cropping effect with the same filters.

See for example:

Panoramic Camera :: Sol 168

Filter 5
Filter 6
Filter 7

I'm no expert on any of this... Maybe someone can share how these filters are supposed to work?


[edit on 28-1-2008 by loam]

Each filter on the rover Pancam is calibrated to a different wavelength of light. This is why each image from the same physical position in the sequence looks slightly different in tone and texture. Viewing the different wavelengths should not impact the physical wall of the crater though. It should slightly deviate in color as we're looking at different luma values but it shouldn't erase it entirely. In addition, the sky values in the previous set of images are solid white with no gradient. Extremely odd under any circumstance. Even if there was a normal cause for the wall issue there should still be dust particles and the like in the air to give it some depth and texture.

-S

BTW - Great catch!

[edit on 28-1-2008 by snoober]

reply to post by snoober


I understood the purpose of the filter, but what I'm not clear about is how the filters are applied. In other words, is some physical defect in play?

They are on a color wheel that rotates in front of the camera. Take a look at

Pancam Color Wheel

I'll readily admit that I'd never really considered a physical defect in the filter's themselves. The gradation doesn't appear on every image with each particular filter and it's different between the two image sets.

-S

reply to post by snoober


Thank you. That is exactly what I was looking for.

Could some particulate matter be at play? If it was fine enough, it could adhere to the lenses (even through a rotation) and over time look differently as the 'edges' dropped off with greater turbulence from the rover itself.

Are there other examples of this 'effect'? I took a stab at finding more, but no such luck in the brief time I looked. (I'm too lazy to do all that clicking... )

It is a possibility. My concern with even a temporary particle interference is that it would have to be a completely solid element to get the lack of tonal range found in the whites of the sky. It would have to be a completely opaque element that could be wiped off of the filters on it's rotation leaving no other trace of it's being there. Possible? Sure. I'm hard pressed to find what it is though.

-S

Did anyone notice the George Bush face on the rock to the right????

Bush Face on Mars


[edit on 28-1-2008 by tator3]

Originally posted by tator3
Did anyone notice the George Bush face on the rock to the right????

Bush Face on Mars


[edit on 28-1-2008 by tator3]

WOOT ITS BUSH. haha thats strange man