Q: Ok, rocks, lots of rocks. To me they all look the same. Help me get my bearings. You claim that these images show movement next to this one rock? What makes you think that we aren't looking at two totally different, albeit similar rocks?
A: Well, yes the landscape is rocky. I think it might help to understand the path Spirit took on its way to the crater Bonneville. The image above is an illustration created by NASA to show Spirit's general progress from its landing site at the lower left of the illustration to Bonneville which is indicated by the dark green and dark blue topographical shading. The label sol refers to a day on Mars as distinct from that on Earth. Spirit moved in a relatively straight line toward the crater and Kilroy's rock ending up directly next to it.
The next annotated image was also created by NASA to illustrate where Spirit was heading. Notice the rock next to the right-hand wheels. They used both rocks in part to help guide Spirit to the edge of the crater and to an extent because they were distinctive. From this vantage they could then look over the edge into the crater and fortunately for us, arrive directly next to Kilroy's rock.
Q: What makes you think that "Kilroy" is alive and not a fossil or merely an unusual rock formation?
A: Rocks don't tend to move. Fortunately for us Spirit captured a number of images of the area where Kilroy is observed over several days and from a number of different perspectives. The first such perspective is in the approach to Bonneville. Kilroy's rock is clearly and prominently featured and represents a landmark as Spirit travels to his rock and stops adacent to it in subsequent days (Sols). In images taken of the rock in the approach to the crater Kilroy is absent. A number of later images show him leaning against the rock apparently observing what must seem to him (I am assuming Kilroy is a "him" because calling him an it seems somehow rude and the choice of name implies the masculine) to be a very strange and alien object. In still later images taken when Spirit was mere inches (centimeters) from his rock, he is no longer there.
Q: I don't want to read more than I have to. Can you cut to the chase and sum up your evidence of what you believe to be life on Mars and not just a rock?
A: Yes
Q: Very funny smarta$$
A: Ok, since you asked so nicely:
As you browse this site what you should see are numerous images captured on different days and with different cameras. There are composite panoramas, raw unprocessed images, 3D-anaglyphs, and annotated images from NASA and some sparingly done by me designed to direct your attention to the areas of importance. Aside from what should be obvious once you see Kilroy, having so many images taken from different angles and on different days, gives us the opportunity to compare, contrast, and notice details that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Q: This can’t be evidence of life on Mars, it's just a trick of light and shadow. It's like seeing the image of the Virgin Mary or Elvis in a piece of toast. I just don't get it.
A: Well, that isn't actually a question, but OK I understand what you’re driving at in your oh-so subtle way. Take out your 3-D glasses - the red and blue ones - and examine the anaglyph (3-D) images. When you look at the images in 3-D it will make things a bit more clear. Read the articles and look closely at the pictures, they tell a story. If that doesn’t work, try to find a higher resolution computer monitor or schedule a visit to your optometrist. Sorry, that wasn't nice, but you started it!In all seriousness, aside from what seems apparent (this is not a rock, a trick of light and shadow, or an optical illusion) what makes this discovery especially important is the fact that the images show that Kilroy moved!
Q: How could there be life on a planet with no magnetic field, a very thin atmosphere and such cold temperatures?
A: When most of us think of life, we tend to think in terms of our own comfort and our ability to survive. While conditions on Mars undoubtedly seem harsh to us it is likely that life there would have long ago adapted to the climate. Indeed, on days where the temperature approaches its maximum, natives would likely view the weather as being “balmy” -- as difficult as that is to imagine!
The type of life found on Mars is analogous to extremophiles here on Earth. From Wikipedia:
- “An extremophile is an organism that thrives in and may even require physically or geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to the majority of life on Earth.”
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile.
Images of Kilroy seem to suggest that he has a tough outer layer which likely provides protection from solar radiation and cold temperatures. It also appears that his nose has at least four nostrils thus increasing his breathing efficiency. It may be possible that his strange appearance could be the result of generations of genetic mutations due to the affects of solar radiation on his DNA. It could also be that these are protective clothes and a resperator we are seeing. We will likely discuss this for years and years with strong opinions on both sides.
Q: Ok, so why didn't anyone else see this, especially the scientists and specialists at NASA who worked closely with the images?
A: Let me answer the second part of your question first. First, it is possible that no one at NASA noticed this for several reasons. As strange as it might sound at first the fact is that it was no one's job to look for Martians peeking around rocks. The sheer volume of work for the project specialists who were focused on doing their jobs wouldn't go looking for things to do which aren't in the job description. Anyone who has worked under pressure of deadlines or the volume of work to do is so great can surely relate. Even with a desire to sit and stare at pictures looking for Martians it's unlikely that they would have had the time. Second, although it may have been a common belief that NASA was looking for signs of life on Mars, it was clear that by "life" they were actually referring to microbial or other simple life forms or evidence of past life. The types of experiments the rover can perform belies a bias against the probability of the presence of current multi-cellular life beyond the microscopic or the quite small.
More correctly though, NASA's statement as to the actual mission was:
-
"The primary goal of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers was to discover "the history of water on Mars." ( link to NASA)
Human nature is such that expectations tend to influence our view of reality and indeed make it manifest. In other words, implicit in the design of Spirit was an indication that they “knew” there was no life on Mars beyond the microscopic or evidence of past life and thus, there wasn’t.
Three, Kilroy is very strange looking. He looks unlike anything we have ever seen before. Hollywood and popular culture have certainly made an impression on our subconscious mind. Through a multitude of science fiction books, movies, comic books and illustrations, we have seen that "aliens" tend to have large eyes, fine features, and grey skin. Or, they look remarkably like us only with strangely colored skin and pointy ears. This could easily influence us to expect only a Hollywood version of a alien and thus we likely wouldn't notice a real Martian which differed from this impression.
Four, and here we have what is probably the underlying reason for not seeing Kilroy, dissapointment and possibly some feeling of defeat by Spirit's team of specialists could have contributed to not looking quite so close at yet another rock. By the time Spirit reached Bonneville some 60 Sols after landing, Spirit had not made the significant and history making discoveries that the team had expected. However, Opportunity which arrived on Mars after Spirit, had already made several significant discoveries and had thus won at least the first race.
I first became aware of the image(s) that contained this evidence when I sat down one morning at my computer and opened the web browser and saw that my home page, The Astronomy Picture of the Day was displaying a fantastic panoramic image from the surface of Mars. At the time I was using a Linux desktop for my primary computer and I saved the image to the hard drive for further viewing. I was fortunate to be using a Linux system and had some excellent software for viewing images which allowed me to easily zoom in and pan around the image at will. Since I wasn't quite ready to begin my work day I indulged my interest and looked really closely at the image. I found this view of Mars to be utterly fascinating and spent some time just looking at it. As I scanned the image something caught my eye. I zoomed in on the spot and as I reached the limits of the resolution of the image I thought that something looked quite different from the rest of the photo. As I looked closer I found the object even more strange. Curious, I searched for higher resolution versions. As I found and examined the increasingly higher resolution images I realized what I was seeing.
I then went back to NASA's various sites looking for additional images taken at different times and from different perspectives. I was looking for confirmation that it wasn't merely an optical illusion. I hoped that I would find images that would confirm movement. I was successful.Since I wasn't looking for signs of life, but rather simply trying to figure out what I was seeing I was open to possibilities.
Q: Life on Mars, surely you can’t be serious? This sounds like tin foil hat time.
A: I am serious... and don’t call me Shirley. Do they still make tin foil?
Q: Why do you call him Kilroy?
A: Because, to me he looks like the doodle known as "Kilroy Was Here" drawn by GI's during World War II, the Korean Conflict and later military campaigns. This continued on during the 1960's and 1970's as many children began drawing the famous icon after reading about it in history classes or seeing photographs taken during those wars. Compare images, it looks like Kilroy was here on Mars and peeking over a rock instead of a wall! The same elements are present in this picture of Kilroy as in the doodle: large nose extending over a barrier and two hands with visible fingers grasping it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kilroy_Was_Here_-_Washington_DC_WWII_Memorial.jpg:Kilroy_Was_Here_-_Washington_DC_WWII_Memorial.jpg
Be sure to click on each image for more detail.
Q: I noticed what looks like writing on the rocks adjacent to Kilroy, what gives?
A: You do have sharp eyes, it took me quite a long time to notice that. The writing is worse than my own handwriting, and though difficult to decipher, appears to be either a notation used to piece together the individual images into a panoramic mosaic, navigation information used to help identify way-points or interesting items, or date and sequence information. The rock around which Kilroy is observed peering features prominently as a landmark during the rover's trip to and sojourn at the rim of the crater.
The same writing that is present in the panoramic images is also present in the constituent raw images used to construct the mosaics. I do find this strange since the writing is on the supposedly raw images. It would seem that the "raw" images are not that raw. Though equally faint, similar notation appears at the joining line towards the right hand side of the mosaic on other larger rocks and in the background. It would useful for someone with strong image enhancement skills to attempt to bring out the writing to better understand it.
Other theories include the possibility that these are remnants from the creation of web usable images and/or inadvertantly added by the image specialists or watermarks added by NASA, although I believe this to be less likely. Of course, maybe its a message from Kilroy.
An analyst born 53 days before NASA. A midwesterner now living in the southeast. 
