Three-side pyramid-like structure seen on Mars triggers debate - Natural or artificial?

A pyramid-like structure first seen on Mars in 2001 has renewed debate on whether human-like creatures inhabited the planet billions of years ago. The image was captured by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and found by researcher Keith Laney while he was scanning the data. He believes that this three-sided pyramid on the Martian surface is possibly an artificial structure. Expressing surprise, he said, "Were this found anywhere on Earth, we'd surely be digging into it." The NASA photo is generating interest on social media 25 years later, after it was reshared by documentary filmmaker Brian Dobbs. "On Mars, there is a three-sided pyramid the size of the Great Pyramid in Egypt," he said. The photo of this pyramid would not have reached a lot of people in 2001. But now, it is grabbing eyeballs because the photo truly is amazing.

This pyramid-like structure is located in the western region of canyon Candor Chasma inside Valles Marineris, a canyon system which scientists say is the second-largest in our solar system. It has been clicked at least five times by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions between 2001 and 2016. Dobbs told Daily Mail that it is not proof of past life on Mars, but it definitely raises questions about the history of the red planet. Meanwhile, NASA says that since the canyon system is riddled with steep cliffs and witnesses landslides, it is possible for unusual and highly geometric surface features to take shape.

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Photos of the pyramid on Mars

The first photo was taken in 2001, with sunlight falling in such a way that only one side of the structure was visible. In April 2002, a three-sided shape was seen once again. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took a high-resolution photo in 2007 and showed more features for the first time. More images in 2014 and 2016 highlighted the geometrical features even more clearly. What was striking in all these images was that, irrespective of sunlight, shadow, image quality, and conditions, the three-sided structure appeared identical each time. The three lines seen from above the structure appear perfectly straight.

Mars researcher George Haas wrote in a research paper, that the three-sided pyramid "exhibits a level of geometry and symmetry that supports a high probability of artificial origins." Reports suggest that CIA carried out mysterious experiments regarding Mars, and documents show that an ancient civilisation that built at least one pyramid once lived on the Red Planet. "Project Stargate" seemingly had the agency send a person's consciousness back in time who described a pyramid and a road, suggesting the presence of a civilisation. Today, people like Elon Musk believe that Mars is humanity's next home. However, that aspiration faces a lot of hurdles today.