Now there is yet another interesting find on Mars. A "bust" of the Greek god Pan. It has been "discovered" in the latest image sent by the NASA Curiosity Rover droid.

The claim has been made by the well-known, if not widely believed blogger Scott C Waring. He saysy that the rock points to Pan.

He writes: "I found the face of Pan. In Greek religion and mythology, Pan is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs. Half man, half goat, his face is easy to make out, but why it's on Mars is beyond me, but perhaps our ancient Greek mythology actually came from Mars. A story from aliens brought to Earth that captivated humans so much, they passed it down from generation to generation."

Moreover, the 'Number 2' is carved on a nearby rock. Doesn't that indicate that intelligent life once inhabited Mars, he asks.

He ads: "I saw the number two in the old style font. You know the old dusty typewriter in a box that your grandparents had in the closet. Well, the number two is there, and I placed a real old font two in the corner near it to compare. The number two is just three feet away from the face."

But the stone face is not part of a bigger statue, but only a six-inch-long statue. 

Hence, this is the latest in a series of weird findings of "pyramids, ruined temples, walled cities, fossils, and other statues" on the Red Planet. It does seem to indicate that an alien civilisation once thrived there, and passed on some legacies to Earth.

This could or could not be right, but the usual dismissal follows - this might be pareidolia, "a phenomenon when the brain tricks the eyes into seeing familiar objects or shapes like faces or animals in textures or patterns, such as clouds or rock surfaces."

One comment from an obvious believer says: "As interesting or more so is the large rock formation that the "mask" is resting upon. There are two straight lines set at 90 degree angles to each other and the one line has a perfect square outline at its base."