Pareidolia

QUOTE

Michael Shermer once said…

“Humans are pattern-seeking story-telling animals.”

(American science writer and historian)

CONCEPT

Pareidolia

Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon where our minds perceive recognizable shapes—often faces or objects—within random or vague stimuli. It’s why we might see a smiling face in the front of a car, a figure in the clouds, or an image on a burnt piece of toast.

Rooted in our brain’s tendency to seek patterns for survival, pareidolia was historically an evolutionary advantage, helping early humans detect potential threats quickly (such as spotting a predator’s face).

Today, it simply reminds us of how our perceptions can trick us and how readily our minds impose familiar forms onto the unknown.

STORY

Ancient Artists … on Mars?

In the summer of 1976, NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft was orbiting Mars, snapping high-resolution photographs of the planet’s surface to scout potential landing sites. Among the images relayed back to Earth was a particularly intriguing snapshot taken in the region called Cydonia.

To many researchers’ surprise, the photo showed a land formation that resembled a humanoid face—two “eyes,” a “nose,” and a distinct “mouth.”

NASA scientists initially explained the so-called “Face on Mars” as a simple interplay of shadows and the shape of the terrain. Yet, as news outlets picked up the story, public fascination grew.

Were these markings evidence of an ancient Martian civilization?

Over the next few years, some speculated that the formation was a monumental carving, akin to the pyramids of Egypt, hinting at extraterrestrial artistry. Books, documentaries, and countless theories poured forth, each claiming that the Face on Mars was too precise to be a mere trick of light.

Over two decades later, when NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and later the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revisited Cydonia, they captured images of the same site in much greater detail.

The face-like appearance practically vanished.

What appeared as a neatly sculpted visage was revealed to be a naturally eroded mesa pitted with crevices. The updated photos showed hills, slopes, and rocky terrain that looked far less dramatic—certainly nothing like a carved monument.

Sometimes, the most extraordinary mysteries can be explained by the simple wonder of how our minds strive to make sense of the unknown.