Hundreds of residents gathered at a beach in Yokosuka city’s Kurihama area, south of Tokyo, over the weekend to pray for marine safety in a summer festival that fuses sacred ritual and seaside spectacle.
As a portable shrine called mikoshi, decorated with Shinto ornaments, was lifted onto bearers’ shoulders, the audience cheered.
The mikoshi had started from Sumiyoshi Shrine and was paraded through neighbourhood alleyways. Shrine priests paused to bless offerings and pray for good fortune for people gathered outside their homes.
When the procession reached the beach, the priests danced and chanted. The festival reached its climax when the bearers entered the water up to their necks, their sweaty faces splashed with seawater.
The procession made a final stop at the nearby ferry terminal, where the mikoshi was carried onto a vessel for prayers for its safe travels.
“Everyone has been looking forward to this day all year,” said Shuji Shimizu, head of the Kurihama Neighbourhood Association. “It’s a celebration of our own strength and unity. Please stay safe out there … and enjoy every moment.”
As evening fell, the mikoshi was carried back to storage at the shrine, until next summer.
EVEN though humans have never set foot on Mars, we’ve still got plenty of photos of the red planet.
And if you went by those pics alone, you’d think the Martian surface was littered with mysterious faces, swarms of monstrous spiders, and even alien beings.
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This legendary Martian feature has been famous around the world since the 1970sCredit: NASA/JPL
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It looks like a stone carving of a giant human (or even alien) faceCredit: NASA/JPL
Of course, Mars is just a barren wasteland – only occupied by camera-toting rovers shipped there from Earth.
So why do we see all of these strange faces and figures on Mars?
Well it’s a phenomenon known as pareidolia, which is a human tendency to see patterns when there isn’t one – and it’s often to blame for those bizarre sightings on the red planet.
Here are some of the creepiest “sightings” from our space neighbour, Mars.
CYDONIA ‘FACE ON MARS’
One of the most iconic Martian faces is from the Cydonia region.
The feature was first captured in 1976, revealing a strikingly humanlike formation on the Martian surface.
Early images of the region were snapped by Viking 1 and Viking 2, a pair of Nasa orbiters tasked with imaging Mars.
It’s since been captured in several later photographs, clearly exposing it as an optical illusion.
Sadly it’s not a giant alien face at all – but a massive 1.2-mile-long Cydonian mesa.
The region is known for its flat-topped mesas.
SPACED OUT Stunning images of Mars surface revealed by Nasa
BEAR WE GO
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The giant face of a bear was captured on the Martian surfaceCredit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
That’s what was seemingly snapped by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on December 12, 2022.
It looks like the face of an enormous grizzly, but it’s actually just a weird hill, as Nasa explains: “A V-shaped collapse structure makes the nose, two craters form the eyes, and a circular fracture pattern shapes the head.
“The circular fracture pattern might be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater.”
The first was caught by the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter in October 2020, and the second was picked up by Nasa’s MRO in May 2018.
Thankfully they’re not spiders at all – but a strange phenomenon called “araneiform terrain”.
“This is an active seasonal process not seen on Earth,” Nasa explained.
“Like dry ice on Earth, the carbon dioxide ice on Mars sublimates as it warms (changes from solid to gas) and the gas becomes trapped below the surface.
“Over time the trapped carbon dioxide gas builds in pressure and is eventually strong enough to break through the ice as a jet that erupts dust.
“The gas is released into the atmosphere and darker dust may be deposited around the vent or transported by winds to produce streaks.
“The loss of the sublimated carbon dioxide leaves behind these spider-like features etched into the surface.”
LIVING ON A PRAYER
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All the way to the far left of this image is what appears to be a MartianCredit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University
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Look closely – can you see him?Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University (highlighted by The Sun)
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The striking image appears to show a kneeling manCredit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University (cropped by The Sun)
In 2007, Nasa’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured what appeared to be a person kneeling in prayer.
It made headlines around the world when the image was released in early 2008.
The eerie scene was part of a vast panorama of Martian hills taken during the closing months of Spirit’s mission.
Of course, all we’re actually seeing is an interesting rock, and a trick of the light.
GHANDI’S MARTIAN TWIN
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Is this the face of Ghandi on Mars?Credit: ESA
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Can you see any resemblance to Indian statesman and activist Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi?Credit: Getty – Contributor
Pictures from Europe‘s Mars Express probe appear to have captured a Ghandi lookalike on Mars.
The Mars Orbiter has been used to pack out the Google Mars project with satellite-style snaps of the red planet.
And in 2011, Italian space fan Matteo Lanneo thought he spotted Ghandi’s likeness on the surface.
Of course, it’s just another classic example of pareidolia, where we’re simply seeing things that aren’t really there.
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Here’s a better and higher-resolution snap of the spot captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which much more clearly shows a collapse pit rather than a hillCredit: ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
MARTIAN DOORWAY
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A panoramic image captured by Nasa’s Curiosity Rover shows a secret doorwayCredit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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Nasa used its data to create a measurement of the ‘doorway’Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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The space agency says it’s just a common type of fractureCredit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The picture of the mound on Mount Sharp was snapped by Nasa’s Curiosity Rover.
Sadly it’s not really a doorway, as Nasa explains: “The mound, on Mount Sharp, has a number of naturally occurring open fractures – including one roughly 12 inches (30 centimeters) tall and 16 inches (40 centimeters) wide, similar in size to a dog door.
“These kinds of open fractures are common in bedrock, both on Earth and on Mars.”
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Mars is our closest neighbour – and is a strange and mysterious alien world still unexplored by humansCredit: Nasa
