Enlarge image
A mysterious, apparently rectangular moon object, out of focus and tiny on the horizon, on a photo of the rover »Jadehase 2«
Photo: Andrew Jones / CNSA
It is a strange object that stands out at right angles from the moon's horizon, in the middle of the bare stone desert it immediately catches the eye: Since the Chinese space agency published a photo of its rover "Jadehase 2", which explores the dark side of the moon, the world has been puzzling what it could be.
The Chinese space agency jokingly dubbed the object "mysterious hut" and speculated: "Is it a dwelling that aliens built after a crash landing?"
The truth could be even more disconcerting than it seems at first glance: What shows on the far side of the moon is not the work of extraterrestrial builders.
But the depths and shallows of the human brain.
"Jade Bunny 2" has been rolling around on the moon for almost three years - a masterpiece in space history.
The far side of the moon has always been considered to be particularly challenging to explore, because it is pockmarked with innumerable small craters, very different from the front side visible from Earth.
Above all, however, the opposite side of the moon lies in the radio shadow and is difficult to reach with signals from the earth.
They have to be played laboriously "across the board", with the help of an additional transmission satellite.
It was not until 1959 that the Luna3 probe took the first ever photos of the back of the moon, a triumph of Soviet space travel at the time.
But just a rock?
Planetologists reacted rather calmly to the discovery of the Chinese rover. "I think that the object shown is most likely a large boulder that was transported there by an impact," says Harald Hiesinger, planetary researcher at the University of Münster. »I would also be extremely careful with statements that it is a cube. On the one hand, only one side is visible; on the other hand, it is not known how deep the chunk is buried, ”he warns. Above all, however, he qualifies: "The resolution of the image material available to me is too low to be able to recognize details."
To create clarity, »Jade Bunny 2« would have to move closer to the object.
The distance is only around 80 meters.
But the way there is arduous, the rover needs around a day for every meter.
It is solar powered and can only drive in sunlight.
It will be months before the jade hare reaches the "hut".
Until then, the planetologist Hiesinger refers to another discipline for classifying the puzzling object: psychology.
It is reminiscent of the "face of Mars" that appeared in pictures of the American "Viking 1" probe in 1976 and caused a stir not only in esoteric circles: Was it a sculpture created by Martians?
So was it evidence of a highly developed civilization on the Red Planet?
Was there an imminent threat of an alien invasion?
None of that.
The face of Mars turned out to be a perfectly normal hill that only looks like a face when there is a very special incidence of light.
This was confirmed in 1998 and 2001 by high-resolution images from the “Mars Global Surveyor” probe.
People regularly recognize faces, huts, aliens or other things in any rock formations.
These observations regularly lead to haunted stories that move the world for a short time.
»Pareidolia« is the diagnosis of Rainer Mausfeld, psychologist, professor emeritus at the University of Kiel and an expert on human perception - and misperception. »Pareidolia« is a reflex reaction of the brain, which likes to recognize faces, animals or other things in clouds, trees or even on the surface of Mars, huts for example. The word pareidolia comes from the Greek and means something like "false image".
These false images have their origin in an automatic interpretation system that is deeply anchored on a “cognitively basic level,” says Mausfeld: “Frogs have something like a reflex fly detector, otherwise they would starve, mice have a snake detector, otherwise they would be eaten. «And we humans have a similar system, only we react primarily to faces, but also to things that somehow seem man-made.
"As soon as a surprising signal appears, the interpretation system starts up suddenly," says Mausfeld.
Is there evil waiting there?
"Even infants recognize human faces intuitively, so you don't even have to draw a nose, just a simple line and the baby's face recognition system starts up," says Mausfeld.
Dot-dot-comma line, the moon face is finished, is the name of a children's verse.
It was the same with the "face of Mars" back then.
And although it has long since been disenchanted: Once you have recognized the face, you will not easily forget it.
The front of the moon also clearly shows a face for many people.
But how are these biologically hard-wired basic concepts coded?
Often the first recognition effect is followed by a second impulse, according to Mausfeld: »Ah, a face.
Oh, it's angry! «Whoever sees a face often ascribes a feeling to it, says Mausfeld.
It is often similar with other man-made objects: A mysterious hut on the moon?
As soon as the interpretation system kicks in, it also speculates about the intention behind the hut, according to Mausfeld: "Is evil holed up in the moon house - or is there a delicious buffet there?"
Clarity about Easter
"This pattern recognition deep in the visual cortex and the interpretation takes place automatically and cognitively basal, so to speak behind the back of my consciousness," says Mausfeld.
It will be months before the lunar robot clears up what the "mysterious hut" on the night star is all about. “The brain hates insecurity,” says Mausfeld: “We find it hard to bear pointlessness. It's like the pandemic, which also confronts us with senselessness and uncertainty. If we want to immunize ourselves against conspiracy fantasies, we urgently need to practice insecurity resilience. ”For him, the hut on the moon is therefore also a kind of meditation object for serenity. We do not know what is hidden behind the mysterious object. And that doesn't matter.
The mysterious, rugged, wild, averted side of the moon leads directly into and down into the dim basement of human thought.
The hut on the moon seems like a good place to learn how to deal with unmanageable situations.
Until the Jade Bunny finally gives us clarity, perhaps around Easter, when it finally sparks down clearer images.
Probably from a dusty gray hill.