Bizarre ‘footprints’ spotted on Mars leave scientists scratching their heads

Mark Worgan Published September 17, 2026 1:30pm Updated September 17, 2026 1:30pm To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Scientists are perplexed by the discovery of what looks like footprints on the surface of Mars. Images captured by the Curiosity Rover show an unusual feature on the Red Planet’s surface – broad, shallow pits unlike anything researchers have previously spotted. The discovery was made as Curiosity explored Mount Sharp, a vast mountain rising from the floor of Gale Crater. The rover has been exploring Mars since landing in 2012, and despite more than a decade on the planet, it continues to find things that puzzle scientists back on Earth. These mysterious markings on Mars’ surface were found by the Curiosity Rover (Picture: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Cover Images) Small pits and depressions are relatively common on Mars. They can form when harder nodules or pebbles embedded in rock gradually weather away, leaving a hollow behind. But the newly observed features are different. They are much wider and shallower than similar pits seen previously, and researchers could not identify obvious objects that might once have occupied them. The Curiosity team used the rover’s cameras and instruments to examine the features in detail. MAHLI and the Mastcam instrument captured overlapping images that can be combined to produce three-dimensional models of the pits and their structure. Nasa’s Perseverance rover previously captured what appeared to be a boulder field on the Red Planet (Picture: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS / SWNS) The team does not believe the marks are actual footprints, but the unusual formations provide a new clue about the geological processes that have shaped this part of Mount Sharp. The surrounding bedrock also provided plenty for Curiosity’s instruments to investigate. Mastcam images and measurements from the ChemCam instrument revealed layers whose texture and structure changed over relatively short distances. People think they spotted a mushroom on Mars in previous images released by Nasa (Picture: Nasa/UFO Sightings Daily) Scientists say these variations could indicate changes in the conditions under which the sediments were deposited. The rover also examined rough, grey layers that were more resistant to erosion than the surrounding rock. ChemCam, MAHLI and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) analysed the material, which may have a different chemical composition from the bedrock around it. After almost 14 years on Mars, Curiosity continues to provide scientists with new glimpses of the planet’s geological history – and, occasionally, features they have never seen before. In an image taken in 2013, UFO hunters thought they’d spotted a wrinkly mushroom on the planet’s surface. Arrow MORE: Nasa finds ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ moon crater bigger than the Roman Colosseum Arrow MORE: Scientists find 27 strange new objects hovering on the edge of our Solar System Arrow MORE: US has put a mystery weapon into space but won’t reveal what it is News Updates Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.