# "floating spoon" on Mars **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 3, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779 "2015-09-03T04:06:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/1 "2015-09-03T04:06:43Z")
[http://images.techtimes.com/data/images/full/130380/floating-spoon.jpg?w=600](http://images.techtimes.com/data/images/full/130380/floating-spoon.jpg?w=600) People keep talking about “pareidolia” in relation to this image but that’s not what is interesting. It is definitely “pareidolia” with respect to those [“fossilized iguana”](http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/streams/2013/November/131112/2D9660468-131111-coslog-iguana-430p.blocks_desktop_medium.jpg) and [“Obama’s head”](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_large/hash/09/99/09992df538b5f0ea145aab4593ec7d17.jpg?itok=UnXOLSRd) formations. Ok - so take away the “spoon” thing, that would be the “pareidolia” part. But it still seems a very bizarre rock formation, tethered on only one side to the ground. Since I presume the scale is fairly big, the formation is probably huge. I guess the lower gravity on Mars allows such a thing to exist, but still - interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/2 "2015-09-03T04:27:33Z")
It doesn’t look huge to me, looks like eroded sandstone, at a guess I wouldn’t put that “spoon” at anything beyond 20 or 30 centimeters in length. It looks a bit weird, but keep in mind Mars gravity is less than 40% of what we get here on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/3 "2015-09-03T04:50:40Z")
Hm, I thought for some reason that was a satellite picture. Do you have a link to some sort of explanation of the scale on the “floating spoon” pic? If it is that small then true, it is much less interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/4 "2015-09-03T06:02:20Z")
Not so surprising that Martian landscapes are bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/5 "2015-09-03T11:10:35Z")
Could you imagine if Orson Wells had seen That!? > [@](#): > > "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Carl Phillips again, at the Wilmuth farm, Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Professor Pierson and myself are here and… Well, I . . . I hardly know where to begin, to paint for you a word picture of the strange scene before my eyes! > The thing, directly in front of me is half buried in a vast pit. The object itself doesn’t look very much like a meteor, at least not the meteors I’ve seen. > > It looks more like a huge cylinder. Wait one is opening… yes… and out of it are marching… Large Wooden Spoons! > > OMG, The Spoons! The Spoons are Beating Everyone…! Oh, the Humanity…!" ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/6 "2015-09-03T11:54:30Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Hm, I thought for some reason that was a satellite picture. Do you have a link to some sort of explanation of the scale on the “floating spoon” pic? If it is that small then true, it is much less interesting. [This article in Forbes](http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewfrancis/2015/09/01/a-spoon-on-mars/) says it is an image from the Curiosity rover. If you look at the lower right corner of the uncropped Forbes picture, I believe there is a bit of the shadow of the rover itself. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/7 "2015-09-03T12:40:19Z")
There is no spoon. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/8 "2015-09-03T13:09:58Z")
Look at it upside down. It isn’t floating. 🙂 Seen upside down, craters appear to be mountains and vice versa. I believe it depends upon the angle of light. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/9 "2015-09-03T14:27:38Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > There is no spoon. That’s because the Martians used Spoonguard. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/10 "2015-09-03T14:54:47Z")
That is absolute proof that Martians drink iced tea. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/11 "2015-09-03T15:03:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > That is absolute proof that Martians drink iced tea. It _is_ very dusty. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/12 "2015-09-03T15:34:27Z")
Off topic but god damn that “obama head” one is a hell of a thing. Probably the only image like these I’ve seen where if you hadn’t told me it was a rock I would have thought “this is a head” rather than ‘this is something that looks like a head’. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/13 "2015-09-03T19:18:38Z")
Yeah, but it looks more like Mandela’s head. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/14 "2015-09-03T19:30:28Z")
My wife has a picture of a floating sheep. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/15 "2015-09-03T19:33:42Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > My wife has a picture of a floating sheep. Is it on Mars? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/16 "2015-09-04T00:10:56Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Off topic but god damn that “obama head” one is a hell of a thing. Probably the only image like these I’ve seen where if you hadn’t told me it was a rock I would have thought “this is a head” rather than ‘this is something that looks like a head’. The version of the Obama’s head picture posted in the OP has had some “cleaning up” done. [Not looking quite as much like Obama’s head.](http://cryptozoologynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/mars-head-statue.png) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/17 "2015-09-04T00:20:56Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > There is no spoon. That’s no Spoon! That’s a spatula flotation! I think you better turn this probe around… ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/18 "2015-09-04T00:48:38Z")
That picture has lots of other overhanging features with shadows below them. The “spoon” feature is the only one stretching so far out, but there are two thicker “branches” of stone on the right edge that are about half of the spoon’s length. Looks like a layer of hard rock on top of a softer rock. As the softer rock eroded from under, bits of the harder rock held together. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/19 "2015-09-04T03:19:30Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > The version of the Obama’s head picture posted in the OP has had some “cleaning up” done. > > [Not looking quite as much like Obama’s head.](http://cryptozoologynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/mars-head-statue.png) Maybe so, but if you look just to the right of ‘Obama’, you can clearly see the bottom half of Teddy Roosevelt’s face, looking straight towards the camera. Or, possibly it’s Colonel Sanders… ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779/20 "2015-09-04T23:55:27Z")
Well, obviously, the Martians really, really like to cook. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/floating-spoon-on-mars/729779.md?page=2)