Apparently, the latest answer is a resounding “possibly”, as NASA scientists attempt to identify this wookie-like figure traipsing through the Mars rockscape.

After endless images of dust and rocks, this is perhaps the most interesting image to be beamed back in recent years.

The seemingly cowled figure is assumed to have been walking down-hill when it was pictured on the far left of one of the panoramic photographs taken by the exploration rover, Spirit, from the top of a low plateau in late 2007.

Or was it?

Call it PhotoShop, tomfoolery, ground-breaking extra-terrestrial news, or down-right quirkiness, but for one brief moment I shall gawp cross-eyed in awe as my imagination runs riot…

[via: Times]