'Bear Face' Found on Mars by NASA Spacecraft

The "bear face" seen in the picture is apparently comprised of a “V-shaped collapse structure (the nose), two craters (the eyes), and a circular fracture pattern (the head).”

A peculiar terrain feature that vaguely resembles a bear’s face has been spotted on Mars by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on board the NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The shapes seen in the picture are actually a “V-shaped collapse structure (the nose), two craters (the eyes), and a circular fracture pattern (the head),” HiRISE’s principal investigator Alfred McEwen explained.

“The circular fracture pattern might be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater,” McEwen wrote in the description of the photo provided on the University of Arizona website. “Maybe the nose is a volcanic or mud vent and the deposit could be lava or mud flows?”

Fragment of an image taken by HiRISE depicting a terrain feature resembling a bear face on Mars

© NASA . JPL-Caltech/UArizona

This isn’t the first time such intriguing sights are spotted on Mars: a terrain feature resembling a humanoid face was discovered on an image of the Cydonia region snapped by the Viking 1 orbiter nearly half a century ago.