The “Mars rat” captured by Curiosity’s lens.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Curiosity rover MSL has taken a picture of a Mars rock that bears a striking resemblance to a rodent and have been making headlines across the Internet today.

Some “UFO” (slightly less flying though) adherents spotted the supposed “Mars rat” in a panoramic photo snapped in September 2012. Zooming in on a portion of the image reveals what appears to be a rat crouching between two rocks with its nose to the ground.

This is not the first time rocks or even mountains appear as something familiar to us Earthlings. The so-called “Face on Mars” that was first imaged in detail by the Viking 1 and Viking 2 orbiters as seen on the left. A rock that certainly appeared to have human facial characteristics.

But later photographed again with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, confirming the mountain to be nothing more than a large mountain. Another example is the smiley face found on Mercury this autumn.