Scientists at the University of Arizona, whom captured a high-resolution camera image of a large rock on Mars’ surface during the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission last July, now maintain that the rock, which some speculated was an alien monolith like the one depicted in “2001: A Space Odyssey” is really just a boulder.
University spokesman Yisrael Spinoza said: “It would be unwise to refer to it as a ‘monolith’ or ‘structure’ because that implies something artificial, like it was put there by someone for example.
“In reality it’s more likely that this boulder has been created by breaking away from the bedrock to create a rectangular-shaped feature.”
Scientist Alfred McEwen added: “There are lots of rectangular boulders on Earth and Mars and other planets.
“Layering from rock deposition combined with tectonic fractures creates right-angle planes of weakness such that rectangular blocks tend to weather out and separate from the bedrock.”