Recent images sent back home by NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover have flabbergasted the scientists. The images received by the agency shows a crab-like object on the surface of the Red planet.

Since those images went online on social media the speculation of alien life on the Martian surface has been all around in the scientific community and on social media.

However, some scientists have been quite quick in giving a logical explanation for the mystery object by attributing it to a phenomenon called pareidolia.

Seth Shostak Senior astronomer at the Centre for SETI Research said in an explanation that it was the similar phenomenon that causes people’s brains to see shapes in clouds.

“Recognising a crab in a landscape filled with wind-weathered rocks is no more surprising— or more significant— than seeing a winking face in a semicolon followed by a parenthesis, “he said.

He further said that the images taken by the rover are not new to the community. Images sent to him are generally quite excited, as they claim that those frequently resemble something one wouldn’t expect on the rusty, dusty surface of the Red Planet, he added.

Shostak said the recent images shows a crab-like creature but occasionally scientists have even spotted even weirder objects such as automobile parts. Maybe they think there are cars on Mars.

Curiosity landed on the surface of the red planet on August 5, 2012 at 10:32 p.m. PDT. Its main aims is to check whether Mars might have supported life at some point of time in past.

Over the last three years Curiosity has made some fascinating discoveries including, organic carbon molecules, which are the building blocks of life, methane in atmosphere of Mars.