The seven strangest objects seen in space

BLUEBERRIES on Mars and Mickey Mouse on Mercury have been spotted in space. But they’re not alone. What other oddities have been found?

SPACE is a big, weird place. Thanks to telescopes and explorations we’ve been given some head-scratching sightings. We look at some of the strangest.

The likes of NASA might be looking to understand the universe better (perhaps even stumbling across little green men along the way) but some of the stuff they’ve found have only managed to confuse our simple human brains further.

Blueberries

Spherical hematite-rich rocks that look like blueberries gave scientists a puzzle to chew on

Marble-sized spherical objects with a dark blue hue were discovered over ten years ago on the surface of Mars and have been giving scientists a puzzle ever since. The consensus believed the Martian spherules or “blueberries” were a sign of water on Mars, forming as a result of flowing through porous rocks and its iron content formed a shell. But recently, another theory has come to light and it is now believed they could be broken up pieces of meteorite.

Super spaceship

Can you spot the Nazi moon base?

A V-shaped dark object with what appears to be rows of lights along the side was uncovered through Google’s map of the moon. Natural conclusion was that it was a spaceship or, more probably, the Nazis have built a secret base. If it was a spaceship it would be far bigger than anything built on earth.

Here it is close up. The rows of “lights” on the V-shaped object had many thinking it was a craft.

Actually, it is a digital artefact caused by Google’s sharpening filters. The dots are just image noise left over from the darker areas in between the “tiles” Google uses to construct its imagery.

Jelly doughnut

A rock or signs of alien life? The white rock, dubbed Pinnacle Island, that appeared suddenly on the surface of Mars. Pictures: NASA

Had Homer Simpson just visited the red planet or is there a more plausible explanation to the sighting of a doughnut on Mars? In January this year a strange object suddenly appeared in a location just weeks after being pictured as being empty. It was white on the outside with a dark centre and could only be described by the big brains at NASA as, well, a jelly doughnut. Was it a fungus? Had a Martian littered before our eyes? It was in fact a rock the Mars rover drove over breaking it in two and sending one half hurtling across the ground.

Star trek symbols

Boldly going where no sand has gone before.

It was meant to be. The Star Trek symbol had been spotted on Mars. In an image released by NASA it showed a series of shapes bearing an uncanny resemblance to the sci-fi show’s logo. Sadly, and much to the deflating disappointment of Trekkies, this was actually a field of sand dunes found near a crater and caused by the planet’s wind speed and topography.

Alien buildings

Alien structures on Mercury.

When NASA released a few grainy images of Mercury it showed what could be proof of an alien structure on its 400C surface. One UFO expert claimed the buildings had no dirt or dust on them, which must mean they were occupied. While this theory has not been disproved, it is quite far-fetched and the images are far too blurry to be real proof.

Lizard

An Iguana on mars? Source: NASA

Call it a lizard or a rat, but a picture snapped by Mars Curiosity rover revealed what looked like an animal among surrounding rocks. The iguana-looking shape was found by a sharp-eyed member of the public but NASA wasn’t interested enough to turn the rover back to investigate. It would have cost millions of dollars and probably found what they expected: “Clearly, it results from, you know, a lot of things like wind erosion and mechanical abrasion and breakdown chemical weathering of the rocks, as to why they get these weird shapes.”

Mickey Mouse

Disney already has Pluto, why not have Mercury too?

Has Disney performed the ultimate feat in marketing and managed to brand Mercury with its famous mouse? The famous logo was discovered when a NASA spacecraft photographed the planet. While Disney goes to great lengths to ensure their branding is seen and recognised even we believe taking a trip to Mercury is a long stretch. This is quite clearly a cluster of three coincidentally located craters — one big one in the middle with two small ones at the top.