As a former lawyer, as all lawyers are, I was paid to be right. All the time. No exceptions, which is tough in the law. That's what separates the mediocre attorneys from the exceptional ones: precision, attention to detail, and building an airtight case. This same analytical approach that served me in the courtroom is what I bring to examining extraordinary evidence like what we're about to discuss.

That being said, even the best of us occasionally serve up a word salad with a side of inappropriate puns. So this is me acknowledging that I shouldn't have been so cheeky with potentially life-changing information. When you're presenting evidence that could alter humanity's understanding of its place in the universe, jokes about Tic Tacs aren't the way to go.

Last week on Reddit this image appeared:

This smooth, elongated object sits on the Martian surface, casting a shadow that confirms its physical presence. When distinguishing artificial objects from natural formations, key indicators include geometric regularity, smooth surfaces, and contextual differentiation from surrounding terrain - all present in this case. This isn't a glitch, an artifact, or a trick of light—it's a solid object with mass and dimension, not resting but flying on the surface of another planet.

Consider the enormity of what we're dealing with:

NASA's public Mars archive contains over 44,660 raw images for this single Sol (Martian day) of exploration. If a human were to review each image—even just 30 seconds per image—it would take:

• 372 hours total

• 47 full workdays

• Over 2 months at 40 hours/week

And that's just from the publicly available images.

Which raises a fascinating question: How did this get discovered? Either a keen-eyed human enthusiast or potential whistleblower spotted and posted this, or—more intriguingly—NASA is already using AI systems to scan for anomalies that might indicate non-terrestrial intelligence. Given the massive data volumes, the latter would make perfect sense.

After all could you catch this in the image? I know I couldn't but I'm blind as a bat.

Source here: https://mars.nasa.gov/raw_images/787528/

Did you notice the shadow under it or the smooth service it has while everything is not?

Here’s it on the big screen: https://www.gigapan.com/embeds/NPerz0g6Gnw/

(Start in the middle of the image. Scroll right to where the edges of the picture change dramatically at the bottom, from the very bottom zoom in at what look like “toes” it’s right above there)

Given the extreme distance of 140 MILLION miles and 6+ minute communication delay, any human presence on Mars would require advanced autonomy or AI.

Our most advanced Mars achievement, NASA's Ingenuity helicopter:

• Weighed only 4 lbs (1.8 kg)

• Could fly for just ~180 seconds at a time

• Required Earth-based commands for each flight

• Set impressive records before being grounded in January 2024 ((Sadly, Ingenuity set all these records and then tragedy happened: https://youtu.be/20vUNgRdB4o?si=V0UppRRWEWwxsV15)

And most importantly—Ingenuity could not have placed or transported an object like what we're seeing. The vast distance between Earth and Mars (140 MILLION miles) means there's no plausible explanation for this object being human in origin.

So, as Kendrick Lamar would say “They are not like us.” (But hopefully in good, less creepy way than who that song was meant for)

Pretty wild how it’s described to be the same shape as a “Tic Tac” by the pilot describing the event at 1:25 minutes into the interview here: https://youtu.be/zlrz84nEXtk?si=20muPg9lAW_oC9LC)

Let's be absolutely clear about what makes this extraordinary:

1. Mars is approximately 140 MILLION miles away from Earth. This massive distance means this object is definitely not something we casually dropped off.

2. Communication with Mars takes at least 6 minutes each way. This time delay makes real-time control of any human technology practically impossible without autonomous systems.

3. The object casts a shadow - proving it has physical mass and sits above the surface.

4. It has a smooth, manufactured appearance in stark contrast to the natural, jagged terrain surrounding it.

5. It bears striking similarity to the Navy "Tic Tac" UAP documented by military pilots.

What would make this conclusive FOR ALL is if we had blockchain-based data storage and artificial intelligence capable of traversing through space or at least Mars, given the 140 MILLION mile distance and 6+ minute communication delay. Then we would have undeniable proof about whether that image shows a UFO/UAP or something else entirely. But more on that to come.

We may not be alone. Weird, huh?

What would be weird is if we had blockchain-based data storage and artificial intelligence capable of traversing through space or at least Mars, then we would know whether that image is of an UFO/UAP or a Tic Tack.

The potential discovery of non-terrestrial technology raises a profound question: If other intelligent species exist, wouldn't they follow predictable technological evolution paths similar to our own? This is where the Mars Tic Tac connects to a broader theory of intelligence development.

Now as my mohawk wearing amazing drummer and Alabama-legend Uncle Chico would say, I told you that story to tell you this one:

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU BLOCKCHAIN AND AI WERE REQUIRED UNLOCKS ON THE INTELLIGENCE SKILL TREE FOR ALL SPECIES?

Well, after hearing about Tic Tac sizes you didn't think I'd go to intellectual determinism did ya? Well, I'm not saying we are the brightest on the planet, there certainly are species that have it better than us and rule their kingdoms just fine, but at the so-called human intelligence level things get weird. We, like all species, want to communicate and spread, and presumably this is a trait for all advanced species or, well, you don't remain a species for much longer.

Thus, the communicate-and-procreate requirements of intelligence continue, which then results in misinformation and disinformation on those communication systems. This leads to blockchain and decentralization, since it used to be centralization of control that prevented wealth distribution, which increased dissent, which there created more mis- and disinformation, and thus created the need for decentralization, which finally leads to these 8 maxims.

These maxims build upon my previous exploration of technological evolution in Fire, The Wheel, Blockchain & Artificial Intelligence, where I first proposed that certain innovations represent unavoidable developmental stages for any advanced civilization, in this case AI and blockchain. (https://paragraph.com/@dunsmoor.eth/firewheelblockchainai)

THE EIGHT MAXIMS OF TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM

1. Technological Inevitability Principle: Specific technologies represent unavoidable evolutionary gateways for any intelligent species, emerging as necessary solutions to universal challenges. (e.g. Fire is necessary for steel and an Internet-like process is required for global communications)

2. Communication Scaling Law: As societies expand, progressively sophisticated communication systems develop by necessity rather than choice, following mathematical principles of information transfer. (e.g. Creating a global communication system like the Internet requires advanced math that, so far, appears to be constant in every corner of our Universe meaning that an alien internet, while highly advanced probably started off with the same "basic math" as ours)

3. Global Network Emergence: Once a critical threshold of communication needs is reached, interconnected information networks inevitably emerge to overcome limitations of distance and transmission speed. (e.g. Scaling a global or interstellar network requires significant commuting power and range which once again links back to math)

4. Trust Scaling Paradox: Expanded information networks create fundamental verification challenges and enable misinformation, requiring new approaches to establish truth across distributed systems. (e.g. Simply put, monkey in clothes provide misinformation and disinformation to each other as part of every day life. Sometimes its harmless as white lies and other times its AI-generated interviews with world leaders that makes stock markets move)

5. Distributed Verification Evolution: Cryptographically secured, decentralized record systems emerge as a mathematical solution to trust problems, providing verification without central authorities. (e.g. This advancement of lies and deception, requires a trust layer to be created, as in immutable, decentralized ledgers so the other clothed monkeys know who is lying and who isn't)

6. Security-Freedom Tension: Decentralized systems create an inevitable trade-off between privacy/freedom and potential exploitation, enabling both unprecedented autonomy and new forms of illicit activity. (e.g The dark web and Silk Road are inevitable forms of expression and while we may hate all that's on there it still is part of the human condition and likely other intelligent species as well. Everyone has a vice, per se, just try not to get an illegal one)

7. Computational Intelligence Necessity: Advanced pattern recognition systems (AI) become essential to analyze immutable distributed records at scale, identifying misuse while preserving system benefits. (e.g. No monkey brain can store all the information of their own life let alone the knowledge base of all humanity, especially at this point, which gives rise to AI. As I detailed in The Thinkers & Builders, advanced intelligence inevitably creates tools to extend its cognitive capabilities once information volume exceeds biological processing limits. See https://paragraph.com/@dunsmoor.eth/builderandthinkers)

8. Interstellar Coordination Prerequisite: Successful interstellar travel requires both autonomous decision-making capabilities and trustless coordination mechanisms to manage the extreme distances, timeframes, and complexity involved. (e.g. In order to be able to send probes into space including our own, we must be able to communicate with them. So far we have done this with a centralized-direct in line communication network. However, if there is an advanced species out there that is exploring the cosmos as any intelligent species would be reasonably inclined to do, you must have two things beyond the technical ability to: (1) For the probe to know what to do when you cannot communicated with it, as in AI and (2) For the date from that probe not to be corrupted by SOMETHING, as in blockchain.)

SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

If that weird Tic Tac-looking thing on Mars is evidence of intelligent life (and I'm saying it is evidence of something more intelligent than we are), then maybe they went through the same technological growing pains we are. Maybe they've already figured out their version of blockchain and AI, or maybe they're still stuck trying to verify who said what on their version of Twitter.

The point is, these technological steps aren't just human problems—they're intelligence problems. Any species smart enough to build complex societies will eventually need to solve the same issues. This connects directly to my 'Fundamental Code Theory,' which suggests that intelligence throughout the universe follows mathematically predictable developmental patterns regardless of its biological origins. (See https://paragraph.com/@dunsmoor.eth/fundamentalcodetheory)

It's like we're all playing the same video game but on different consoles, and you can't unlock the "travel between stars" achievement until you've completed the "figure out how to trust each other at planetary scale" mission.

So next time you see a weird shape in a NASA photo, ask yourself: where is that little Tic Tac or other UFO/UAP on the tech tree? And have they figured out how to stop their version of fake news or deepfakes yet? Because if they have... maybe we should work together so we can explore the mysteries of space.

It's going to get a lot weirder because THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE, AND WE ARE GOING TO FIND IT, IN SO MANY WAYS… STAY TUNED!