I too have been following this story, with amusement, awaiting its eventual surfacing here. Thanks for not posting this on Space. In all honesty, it is too silly even for off-topic, if that is possible.

Let's start with the article you linked to. Frankly, it's b******t from the headline on down.

The image you linked to is part of a press release, dated May 24th 2004,which you could have figured out from the URL of the image. It is listed on the main press-release page. The press release contains other versions of this panorama, including stereo versions. From that press release, you could discern that the raw images were taken on sol 115. Go to the raw images page and scroll back on the navigation camera to sol 115 and you'll find the orignal images of the feature, with stereo pair.

So, that image was not leaked, it has been available on various websites for years now. No cover-up, no leak, nothing. Given that the entire first part of the linked article was so laden with lies, I didn't even bother reading further. Waste o' time.

Back to the rock.

If one downloads the original raw images and views then in stereo, it becomes quite clear that the feature in question is the exposed edge of a mostly buried slab of the thinly bedded unit of the evaporite rocks. Notice how many polygonal slabs are in this area. These slabs are on the edge of a crater, where they have been uplifted and moved about by the forces of the impact. Views from previous days from the other direction support this observation. It is a matter of perspective.

It's a rock, Lindy, pure and simple.