NASA Mars photo reveals strange object

Is evidence of life on Mars being suppressed?

According to an article written August 5, 2008, a piece of "timber" has been found in one of the NASA photos, taken by the Mar´s Rover "Opportunity"

The NASA explanation is:

"What you're seeing is a piece of flat, platy, layered sulfur-rich outcrop rock like we've seen almost everywhere the Opportunity rover has been in Meridiani Planum," said Bell. "Sometimes, like in this case, those flat, platy rocks have been tilted or dislodged, this one probably from the forces associated with the huge impact crater that formed nearby." - examiner

Here are some more "tilted rocks" which look to me like old tree trunks in a dry river bed.



Check out this larger picture (click to enlarge): What is that bright reflection in the upper left on the hill?



If these were petrified wood they would technically be rocks.

Petrified wood ... consists of fossil wood where all the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (most often a silicate, such as quartz), while retaining the original structure of the wood. - wiki

Are we looking at tree fossils on Mars?

You can read the full article here: "NASA Mars photo leaked - wood found on mars!"
Where would a piece of timber (if that is what it is) come from, if there are no trees on Mars? The author of the article says "There are vast forests on Mars, ones that are kept from the public. This piece of wood looks like it floated to its present location, being partially sunk in the soil."

Whilst conditions on Mars are different to that on Earth (atmosphere and temperatures), it seems unlikely that a piece of wood could survive any great length of time, a point the author makes "This flood had to have happened within the past thirty or forty years because the wood is intact, though this is judging the rate of decay by Earth standards. Some may say that Mars did have water on it long ago and that it even had an atmosphere, which is true, but a piece of timber isn´t going to survive for thousands of years."

Although the Viking Orbiters photographed what appeared to be forests on Mars, there has been no mention of this recently, or any new images.

It is the author´s belief that the photograph released by NASA was an accident and that it is "a photo that could get someone killed" ... Clearly the photo came from NASA, as you can see other images of the "log" in photos displayed on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory site. So if this is a hoax, it is someone at NASA who is doing it. - ac

More about the trees on Mars. And holy heck, those look like alien trees to me, not ice crystals or rocks.

Both of the Viking Orbiters filmed vast forests on Mars, though no subsequent probe to the Red Planet has shot a single frame of film showing a tree. This was by design. The Viking photographs show more than just a few trees but rather thousands upon thousand of them. These trees appear to be much larger than Earth trees, having a leaf and branch system that is unique to Mars. The foliage spans much wider than a similar plants on Earth do, rising to who knows what heights. The spacing between them could be the result of the dying Martian atmosphere. ... The fact that trees can survive in such an atmosphere, and with much less water than Earth trees do, reveals their unique structure while offering hope for an increasingly polluted Earth. Since the Martian atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide, these plants would have to thrive on it in a way much superior to Earth trees. They may give off oxygen, though I am using terrestrial vegetation for comparison, but they could give off another gas, one even toxic to humans. Seeding or drafting these trees in bulk could bring breathable air back to the Red Planet. - thecrit