Move over, Earth. Mars is the new Planet of the Apes. Anyone who says this isn't one of the greatest lookalike rocks ever photographed is a barefaced liar. This thing looks so much a like a gorilla that it's easier to believe someone just photoshopped an actual great ape onto a Martian landscape and just started circulating the image round the web, claiming it was straight from NASA. However, this picture, which was taken by the Spirit rover in summer of 2003, has genuinely had nothing added to it at all. Interestingly, many of the photos produced by Mars rovers are taken using stereo cameras, meaning two slightly different images are captured by adjacent apertures. The images can then be combined in a way that mimics human binocular vision to build a 3D model of what we're seeing. It is this technique and the discovery of additional photos taken from another angle that allow us to conclude that there are no Martian gorillas out there; just strange rocks. That doesn't sway some ufologists however. But thinking about it logically, what would be the odds that a real life Martian creature had happened to evolve to look exactly like something from our own planet? Clearly the UFO hunters are doing it all wrong; that rock in the foreground is probably more likely to be intelligent life.
Peter Austin initially joined WhatCulture as an occasional contributor to our Film, Gaming and Science sections, but made the mistake of telling us that he'd been making videos in his bedroom for over a decade. Since then he's been a vital member of our YouTube team and routinely sets the standard for smart-casual wear in the office.
