Martian Spider patterns
Created in Backyard Experiments

    The mystery of a common formation to the south polar region is the Martian spider, a raised feature with many lightning-looking features radiating out from the center in all directions. In a backyard experiment these features have been duplicated in great detail. We now have a repeatable experiment producing these patterns from electrical discharges so now a question can be justifiably raised; what electrical process could be responsible for those spiders on Mars? That won't be answered here but i'll point you to qualified people who might have an explanation.


    What follows is the details of the experiment and the patterns which resulted.


    To help you understand the electrical dynamics behind these figures we can look at Lichtenberg figures and then scale them down to compare these patterns in the fiberglass-dust covering an old VGA CRT. You will want to refer to a site called Thunderbolts.info were they are featuring articles on this subject and numerous others.

   This experiment involves an Old VGA CRT that may have some internal malfunction which might be contributing to a tendency for these discharges of low intensity across the face of the exposed surface of the tube. For this experiment fiberglass powder was distributed in various depths, less than a 1/32th in most areas.

Patterns of many types have been demonstrated but these spiders are something to behold, a real-time example in scaled-down form of amazing similarity to Martian Spiders.

    A previous experiment with dust overlaid by fiberglass preceeded this session by several days. Those patterns were being observed when they became disturbed resulting in the material being moved around on the surface and partially removed. An effort to redistribute evenly was made but there were many areas of the glass that were still bare so more fiberglass was added to the screen by sprinkeling from a film canister. The power was then cycled on and off to arrange the material by the field being generated by the CRT.

I do not reccomend using fiberglass powder without extremely effective protective gear for your eyes and lungs. Trying different powders will have varied results, field dust will do well but visibility is low. Talc or foot powder might be ok in a dry enviornment but they tend to do poorly in higher humidity.


There a several patterns which can be made consistantly with static discharges between the CRT and My finger. When the power is on a circular pattern is made. When the power is off and loose material is present on the screen, negative spiders can be formed. Most times, material will be pulled off the screen and attracted to my finger and under certain circumstances the material will be re-deposited to the central part of the spider and to parts of the legs as my finger is pulled away. I call these spiders 'pullaway spiders. They are also those with a negative and positive characteristic. They match the spider ravines rather closely and when multiple discharges occur in the same region their size will grow. Another pattern which is consistently made is the positive-relief spider but making those is a bit more challanging. Start with a clean monitor and a second monitor with material coating the screen. With power off to the clean CRT attempt to get discharges between your finger and the screen. If none occure you'll want to turn it on and get some discharges start the process going (remember that these discharges will be circular). When you can't get any more discharges turn it off and attempt getting discharges again, they may be small but you'll get the idea just the same. Once you stop getting arcs go to the other monitor and power it on. Attempt getting discharges which may collect material to your finger. If material collects go to the clean monitor and power it on then move your finger into close proximity, the material on your finger should stream off to the areas surrounding the power-on discharges and to the legs of the spiders made in power-off mode. Repeat the process and alter it as you are led to see the different results. You should see material stream off your finger to the perimiters of the round circles made while power is on and to the thin legs of the lichtenberg patterns made by the power-off discharges.

More info will be added as more clarity comes during my observations.


You can compare these images with adjacent images of features commonly seen on Mars, Moons and asteroids.

We are aware of the plasma nature of the space environment and the plasma sheaths that form around bodies in space as they move within the solar stream of charged particles. Reason exists to conclude that these bodies become charged with their own state of charge. We know that two objects of differing charge potential will discharge in arc mode as they come into close proximity but even before that happens there are other modes of discharge which can reveal their activity in loosly bound material on the surface of an object such as a CRT.

In the description attempted here the modes of discharge will not be delt with in specifics but be mentioned in association with whether a physical arc was seen or heard. This will be arc mode If acticity occurs without an arc this will be regarded as a dark discharge since nothing visible or audible has occured. The glow mode of plasma discharge does not seem applicable at this point in the experiments.

The CRT experiments give us a unique opportunity to see the reaction of different materials to discharges of several types. During a discharge material might be removed from the surface and redistributed in specific manners or distributed to the surface from another object in close proximity. Fiberglass powder is highly excitable and has given the best results. The departure of material is one detail to take note of but the patterns left behind are significantly more important for they are in many cases close matches of the mysterious Martian Spiders and many other features as well. Compare the images at the links to the left with images from any space mission and see for yourself and decide for yourself, from this evidence and that obtained from your own experiments, what is the most believable explanation for the formation of surface features in this electrically active universe .

More details will be added so check back again.