ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum), MOC image:6412:0::0

The "face" on Mars has been the subject of much speculation about its origins, but a new close-up inspection reveals its strange shape can probably be explained by ordinary geological processes.

Digital Journal — One of the most famous space phenoms, the mystery face on Mars, has been deciphered. As it turns out, it’s just a big pile of rocks.

Thanks to the best images ever taken of the much-discussed face, scientists have conclusively determined it’s just an unusual formation of mountains, landslides and valleys. Sorry all you conspiracy theorists and alien enthusiasts, but the Mother Ship ain’t comin’.

Cameras on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express satellite were able to capture clear images of the “face” through heavy atmospheric dust and haze in July.

Project scientists Agustin Chicarro told the Washington Post the photos “not only provide a completely fresh and detailed view of an area famous to fans of space myths worldwide but also provide an impressive close-up of an area of great interest for planetary geologists.”

The original "Face on Mars" image taken by NASA's Viking 1 orbiter, in grey scale, on 25 July 1976. A NASA press release at the time said the formation "resembles a human head."

The face on Mars’ Cydonia region was made famous in 1976 when the Viking 1 probe beamed images of the Martian landscape. After looking over the photos, NASA sent out a press release at the time saying a formation on the planet “resembles a human head,” spurring wide speculation it was created by intelligent beings.

NASA concluded the “face” was merely an optical illusion created by strange light patterns on the formation’s surface. But, as all conspiracy theories do, speculation continued. The intelligent being theories were even fuelled after a Mars probe sent back more images in 1998 and 2001.

But with the new photos, scientists say the “face” has a “debris apron” caused by multiple landslides of rock.

Jim Garvin, NASA’s chief scientist for Mars exploration, says the formation is similar to butte or mesa landforms common around the American West. Such formations are common in Mars’ Cydonia region, which is located between the planet’s southern highlands and northern plains.