We want so much to know the answer...
The Face On Mars
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Viking: 1976
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Surveyor: 1999
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From ABC Science News (abcnews.com) at:
http://204.202.137.115/sections/science/DailyNews/marsface0403.html
April 6, 2000 — On Sunday, Mars Global Surveyor snapped photographs
of the infamous "Face on Mars" formation. Well, shadows and a
distant view can make things seem other than what they are.
What was perceived to be a Sphinx-like face, one mile long, rising out
of the Martian landscape is nothing more than one more geological
formation. Alas, there go the possibilities. The first one—the
most intriguing—hinted at the possibility of intelligent beings out
there. The reality, as it turned out, was less momentous: the photos
confirm the face is a mere trick of light and shadow falling on an
unexceptional Martian hill.
No Aliens—This Time
In two grainy pictures that the Viking orbiter took of the Cydonia
region, there is a remarkable feature that looks like a human face. Some
examining the Cydonia images also believe they spot pyramids and
geometrically placed mounds—alien ruins, in other words. A few
charge NASA is covering up proof of Martian cities and has been doctoring
Mars photographs ever since.
See? No Tricks
NASA released the raw data for the new photographs as soon as it
received it, which showed an image dark as a blackboard. The better image,
above, offers much greater detail.
“What I want to make sure is that we tell everybody every step of the
process and everybody knows what we’re doing,” says project manager
Glenn Cunningham. “I want to be as open as we can about what’s going
on.” The pictures provided about 10 times the resolution of
Viking.
Project scientist Arden Albee sounds almost weary talking about the
face. “In my judgment and experience,” he says, “they are natural
features.” Most Mars scientists, he says, “just simply have not felt
that that was an appropriate activity to devote their energies.”
Why are we so willing to look for life's answer in the
shadows of Mars, but not in the light of God?
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