Yes, it could be, it is true. However, where else do you get two round shadows joined by a long straight shadow going at an angle and the same angle as shadows from the light source? I admit that there is a vertical line going down the page right in the middle of this 'thing' which makes it seem like there is a 'mast', but looking at the smaller image I have posted above, does make it appear as if there are two round spheres on a mast.
You think it is probably an imaging artifact, do you?
The whole point is that scientists are working from these tif images and so they are relying on the data being good. OK, they are probably not working at the pixel level like we are, but even so, they have to assume the photographs are reasonably accurate. Some scientists are finding small objects such as the Apollo landing site evidence. You could say that that was a smudge on the photograph also. All these things need backup views from other pictures.
Right, I have got the hang of this stuff now. I am going to keep the examples on photobucket and then link to that with a link to the original too.
4133-h3 strip 817 about half way down. The writing on the strips are mirror imaged so you may have to horizontally flip the tif image to read the strip numbers correctly.
So here is a shadow that suggests that there is something sticking up. The trouble is, it is not very large. I am going to try and find some other pictures of this area from clementine or other Lunar orbiter photographs.
To the left of the photo white + sign we are looking down from on top.
I can see this now and there is a 'mast' between the top white sphere and the bottom larger white sphere. The smaller shadow is a smaller sphere on the very top of the small sphere that we cannot see as separate.