Some viral headlines suggest JWST detected “lights” or artificial illumination on Mars.This plays into long-running conspiracy theories about secret Martian civilizations or NASA “hiding evidence.”
1. The Claim
- Some viral headlines suggest JWST detected “lights” or artificial illumination on Mars.
- This plays into long-running conspiracy theories about secret Martian civilizations or NASA “hiding evidence.”
2. The Reality
- JWST is not aimed at Mars for surface mapping — it focuses on distant galaxies, exoplanets, and cosmic structures.
- Any “lights” reported are actually:
- Atmospheric glows (auroras caused by solar wind interacting with Mars’ thin atmosphere).
- Thermal emissions — heat signatures from dust storms, polar caps, or rocky surfaces radiating infrared.
- Reflected sunlight from ice and dust, which JWST’s infrared detectors pick up vividly.
3. Why It Feels Mysterious
- Infrared images from JWST look alien to the untrained eye — glowing patterns across the planet.
- Without context, it’s easy to interpret them as artificial lights.
- NASA’s own data shows these emissions are natural phenomena, not city skylines.