I have used the image posted by Levelwind as seen above.
The adjustments made to the image were to the mid-tones, shadows, brightness, contrast with some use of the unsharp mask facility.
This is a cropped view from that image which is darker than the original but necessary to view what's really on the surface.
If you look very carefully at the surface detail you will see that it's not just sand and rocks but some very small objects that should be instantly recognizable.
It helps to zoom in slightly to spot the object detail.
Do you see anything that would appear to be unnatural or artificial?
Yes absolutely! What is strange is that in most cases, the wheels leave scuff marks and crushed stones showing obvious signs. I have seen that it almost appears to be a white liquid looking trail (like an oil leak from a vehicle.
It is just very unusual this one
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The whole universe is to the observable universe, as the observable universe is to an atom. - Alan Guth
This is an interesting thread. Upon first review, I found Timewarp's theory a bit hard to swallow. Little beings actually replicating a rover tread pattern in the sand, is hard to believe (even after all the evidence we share amongst each other) .. The more i looked at the image and other images from SOL901, i started asking myself it was truly possible, even as extreme as it may be.
It is possible.
Genealogist I copied your picture of the rover wheel and compared it to Timewarps. It doesn't quite match up either. In no other pictures have I noticed the ridge in the sand left behind from the screw/grommet in the rover wheel (circled in green) ..
Also, count the treads on the rover wheel and compare them to the treads in the sand. There is one missing with no evidence of it having been eroded or elevated above the sand...
Whatever it may be, it is certainly puzzling and I have enjoyed studying it. I have no conclusion on this, all theory's have been excellent.
Hi Timewarp great find. I am truly baffled how the tread mark appears isolated. I wonder whether I can offer a solution to the interruption which appears within the indentation though. (You have ringed this in yellow) There appears to be what looks like a little 'eye' a third of the way in from the right. Hope I've got this right!! Still strange though.TG
The zig-zags look too close together to be a real wheel impression but angles are deceiving. Yes, it could be that it is a creation by something else other than the rover, but that is a stretch of the imagination for many people.
The only things I can think it could be are those two possibilities unless someone can point out places where the stones leading up to it are dislodged which would indicate a harder surface before the small sand dune where the print is.
If my theory is correct in relation to a tiny-sized intelligent civilization, could it possibly be that this is a 'sign' to let any unwelcome visitors know of their presence?
The impression in the sand gives the appearance of being made by one of the rover tyres but, as qmantoo has pointed out, there are no other markings close to it.
Could it possibly be a structured copy of the tyre pattern to let us know someone else is on Mars?
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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
I think I would call that a "cover-up" since there is no track up to or away from it. It appears to have been placed there fo no particular reason (other than to hide what was there before it was placed there perhaps).
No doubt there will be those who say that you cannot see the tracks up to that point due to the hardness of the ground. However, usually some stones/rocks are displaced when you have a large mass pushing down on small pebbles.
Anyone care to have that "hardness of the ground" opinion?
