It's time for some straight talk on the subject of pareidolia, defined by psychologists as the human tendency to perceive meaningful shapes or sounds where there are none. Common examples of pareidolia include the man in the moon, hidden messages in recordings, and the face of the Virgin Mary on tree trunks, underpass walls and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Ask any hardcore skeptic and they'll tell you pareidolia is synonymous with delusion.

Both words came to mind earlier this week when the mainstream media caught on to Internet rumblings about a so-called "mysterious figure" photographed on the surface of Mars by Spirit, NASA's robotic planetary explorer.

Some had already dubbed the figure "Bigfoot" due to its uncanny resemblance to the hairy hominid purportedly filmed by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin in 1967. Others insisted it looked more like a woman. It couldn't really be either sort of entity, of course, because atmospheric conditions on Mars aren't hospitable to hominids, hairy or otherwise. Furthermore, as Museum of Hoaxes curator Alex Boese points out, when viewed in its proper context it becomes clear that the mysterious extraterrestrial figure, whatever it is, is very, very, very small.

There's little you can say to discourage a true pareidoliac, however. A few diehards remain convinced the Martian mystery thing is a dead ringer for the Little Mermaid of Copenhagen, a bronze statue inspired by the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. At least it's a step in the right direction.

Read more about it:
• NASA: Mystery Creature on Mars Is Wind-Carved Rock - Local6.com
• Is Martian Figure Actually a Danish Mermaid? - The Telegraph
• NASA Photo Shows Humanoid Figure on Mars - Fox News
• The Martian Bigfoot - Museum of Hoaxes
• Mystery of 'Woman on Mars' - Adelaide Now
• Life on Mars? - The Daily Mail