Continued
Continued
5-15-00
Science Fiction and Alien Artifacts on Mars: Richard Hoagland's Claims Analyzed
The latest "conspiracy" to hit the Net concerning possible suppression of space-science knowledge is author Richard Hoagland's revelation that a set of View-Master reels depicts a leaked agenda of Mars secrets. Such a claim deserves to be looked at; given Malin Space Science Systems' reticence to "come clean" with its Mars Global Surveyor mission objectives, it's not unreasonable to look for possible "leaks."
Enterprise Mission logo.
However, the reels Hoagland cites as evidence of a secret Cydonia indoctrination program are segments from a serialized science fiction adventure series from 1955 -- decades before the Viking mission discovered the anomalies under investigation. Hoagland's claim is predicated on the assumption that NASA (or some other space agency) has not only been aware of the Cydonia enigma for much longer than history would allow, but is confident enough in its estimation of the mystery to begin a pop-cultural indoctrination, plugging specific ideas at the science fiction-reading demographic of 1955 in hopes of steering our psychosocial acceptance of artificial structures on Mars.
Hoagland's reasoning is exquisitely absurd. In the View-Master slides he enthusiastically referred to at his recent fund-raiser (the adventures of one "Tom Corbett: Space Cadet"), a team of plastic astronauts voyages to the Moon and discovers a pyramidal artifact containing a scale model of Mars. Hoagland maintains that this is beyond coincidence and that the symbolic references to Mars and pyramids (specifically tetrahedrons, which many argue are inferred by mathematical alignments at Cydonia) prove behind-the-scenes knowledge of the features at Cydonia.
Alien artifacts on the Moon and Mars are nothing new in science fiction. It comes as no surprise that there once existed a series centered around the discovery of "Mars-like" artifacts on the Moon. Arthur C. Clarke's famous short-story, "The Sentinel," describes a similar situation, complete with pyramidal overtones. It should be noted that Hoagland, in his increasingly desperate quest for evidence, completely overlooks "The Sentinel" -- and the movie based upon it, "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Scene from "Tom Corbett" serial cited as proof of secret Cydonia knowledge by Richard Hoagland.
One wonders right away why Hoagland would devote any time at all to an obscure View-Master drama when "2001," with its lavish detail and illustrious cinematic history, is so near at hand. I suspect his ignoring "The Sentinel" as evidence for his theory is because citing a well-known movie would immediately make him look foolish. After all, science fiction is generally based on science fact -- even if loosely -- rather than the other way around. But the View-Master reels are just obscure enough that Hoagland can feel relatively comfortable "discovering" them, and in so doing creating the albeit tenuous illusion that he's "onto something."
A close look at the purported "symbolic parallels" between the View-Master reels and the real mystery at Cydonia, however, makes it quite clear that Hoagland is onto nothing at all. The science fiction genre is littered with references to pyramids on other planets, a theme that achieves a certain romantic aura since we tend to think of the Pyramids of Egypt when we hear the word "ruin." Pyramids are the quintessential "ruin," and as such lend themselves nicely to stories of extraterrestrial discovery.
I personally own a copy of an obscure, long out-of-print paperback called "Puzzle of the Space Pyramids." Its cover features an astronaut wandering the sands of Mars with enormous pyramids looming in the background -- a "parallel" that certainly outshines the alleged symbolism in Hoagland's Martian odyssey. "Puzzle of the Space Pyramids" isn't the only story I can think of that features pyramids on Mars. Another well-known story is Stanley Weinbaum's "A Martian Odyssey." And as long as we're being paranoid, why not include Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" as part of the conspiracy? After all, Bradbury's Martians built sprawling glass cities suspiciously similar to the "highly geometric glass ruins" hyped to the point of inanity on Hoagland's website. Hoagland has created a "conspiracy" that threatens to envelope the entirety of Space Age pop-culture if taken to its logical extreme.
Mars Attacks! [Postscript: 2003]
Hoagland apologist Mike Bara responded to the above piece with an incendiary attack on my intelligence. However, he refused to explain how, exactly, NASA could have been aware of Cydonia in 1955 -- and already hard at work disseminating its knowledge to View-Master users.
For Bara's argument to have any value -- even as an exercise in speculation -- Bara would have to propose just how a covert space program (capable of traveling to Mars) could have existed in the early 1950s. Such a program would have involved a great many scientists and engineers, required launch facilities and factories, etc. It shouldn't be especially difficult to start researching this explosive possibility using quite ordinary means. Bara fails to do this, preferring to dwell on "symbolic parallels" which completely fall apart when placed in their Space Age context.
Ironically, Bara eagerly incorporated "2001: A Space Odyssey" into Hoagland's "leaked agenda" scenario. Apparently Arthur C. Clarke is a Cydonia insider of some sort, desperately fishing for ways to communicate the truth to his readers . . .
I should have known.
5-27-00
Additional Martian Enigmas
Martian anomalies that have yet to be photographed by the Mars Global Surveyor include the formations pictured below. Given Malin Space Sciece Systems' recent posting of over 25,000 never-before seen Mars images on the Web, it wouldn't surprise me if one or two of these has actually been reimaged without public fanfare.
The "Sirisena Face" in Cydonia: an abandoned project?
The "Sirisena Face" is a vaguely face-like formation discovered west of the Cydonia complex. This feature shares gross morphological similarities with the Cydonia Face and shares its alignment.
The "Runway" complex, a collection of unusual features located on the slope of Hecates Tholus, an extinct volcano. The "Runway" is accompanied by a similar feature known as the "Bowtie."
An enlargement of the "Runway" feature (alternately known as the "String of Beads"). Note apparent recessed platform, or "basin," and uniform cone/pyramid-shaped substructures.
The "Radial Complex," a collection of straight lines and rectangular features.
The "Airport" reveals branching "arms" that seem to connect in a more-or-less central terminus, reminescent of a modern airport as seen from above.
