--- title: You're Not Actually Seeing A Ghost on Mars description: The Internet is buzzing about a NASA-captured image of what looks like a ghost woman on Mars. canonical: https://time.com/3990437/mars-ghost-crab/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-10T14:52:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:02.180Z article:section: Science og:title: You're Not Actually Seeing A Ghost on Mars og:description: First there was a crab, now people think there's a ghost og:url: https://time.com/3990437/mars-ghost-crab/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf67c149d8601131e/69885e792dce01069c9e4fd9/nasa-mars-woman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1344 og:image:height: 756 og:image:alt: nasa-mars-woman-curiosity-rover og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: You're Not Actually Seeing A Ghost on Mars twitter:description: First there was a crab, now people think there's a ghost twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf67c149d8601131e/69885e792dce01069c9e4fd9/nasa-mars-woman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # You're Not Actually Seeing A Ghost on Mars > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home [Watch (HLS stream): A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6ookw4W2.m3u8) (13:31)  _Published 2021-03-11. A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 10, 2015 2:52 PM UTC  JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NASA by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 10, 2015 2:52 PM UTC The Internet is buzzing about a NASA-captured image of what [looks like a ghost woman on Mars](http://mashable.com/2015/08/06/nasa-mars-lady/?utm%5Fcid=mash-com-fb-main-link). First people thought they were seeing a [massive crab](http://time.com/3982146/mars-crab-monster/) on Mars, and now it’s a ghostly woman. [Thanks to TIME’s science writer Jeffrey Kluger](http://time.com/3982146/mars-crab-monster/), we know the sights are actually due to pareidolia; a phenomenon that makes us see all sorts of things that aren’t really there. It’s when people see familiar images in unfamiliar patterns. In a story explaining the large crab on Mars image, [Kluger writes](http://time.com/3982146/mars-crab-monster/): --- > “” --- So no, there’s not a ghost woman on Mars, and there’s no giant crab, but it’s probably not the last time there’s a “sighting” of something unusual on the planet. **MORE:** [Why Your Brain Thinks This Picture Shows a Giant, Martian Crab Monster](http://time.com/3982146/mars-crab-monster/) \[[_Mashable_](http://mashable.com/2015/08/06/nasa-mars-lady/?utm%5Fcid=mash-com-fb-main-link)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3990437/mars-ghost-crab/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3990437/mars-ghost-crab/"},"headline":"You're Not Actually Seeing A Ghost on Mars","datePublished":"2015-08-10T14:52:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:03:02.180Z","description":"First there was a crab, now there's a ghost","url":"https://time.com/3990437/mars-ghost-crab/","keywords":["Space","Newsfeed","NASA","Mars","Photo","images","woman"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf67c149d8601131e/69885e792dce01069c9e4fd9/nasa-mars-woman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf67c149d8601131e/69885e792dce01069c9e4fd9/nasa-mars-woman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"nasa-mars-woman-curiosity-rover","caption":"nasa-mars-woman-curiosity-rover","creditText":"JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3990437/mars-ghost-crab/","name":"You're Not Actually Seeing A Ghost on Mars"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home","description":"A Year in Space - Ep.1: Leaving Home","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6ookw4W2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-03-11T18:13:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6ookw4W2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3990437/mars-ghost-crab/","duration":"PT13M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3990437/mars-ghost-crab/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```