The Optical Illusion That Hijacked a Mars Mission

In 1976, NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter captured an image that changed the world: a 1.2-mile long humanoid face staring up from the surface of Mars. For decades, this single photograph sparked wild conspiracy theories about ancient extraterrestrial civilizations and government cover-ups. But the truth behind the "Face on Mars" reveals something even more fascinating about human psychology and the phenomenon of pareidolia. From the first grainy images to the high-resolution truths revealed by the Mars Global Surveyor, here is how a trick of light and shadow fooled millions, and what it teaches us about our search for cosmic neighbors. Subscribe to Spark for more amazing science, tech & engineering videos: https://goo.gl/LIrlur 🚀 Join the Spark Channel Membership to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMV3aTOwUtG5vwfH9_rzb2w/join You can now become a History Hit member right here on YouTube! Join for access to a new exclusive documentary every week, and access to over 160+ of our documentaries presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, Eleanor Janega, Tristan Hughes, Mary Beard, Matt Lewis and more. Get an exclusive release every week by signing up here: https://bit.ly/4pyExyn Any queries, please contact us at: [email protected] #Spark