| "Using the ability to change mental perspectives, one can see the mesa clearly, without imagining details, as an excellent rendition of a sculpted face."
Dr. Tom Van Flandern |
Click here for the "Face" on Mars Animation
Background. Viking spacecraft images of Mars in the late 1970s included a photo showing an object that resembled half a human face, with shadows hiding anything that might lie to its immediate east. This drew scientific attention (as well as much unscientific attention) to this object and its vicinity, now named the Cydonia region. Many of the objects near the Face object proved to be anomalous as well. A team of scientists found the region so scientifically interesting that they proposed a variety of tests that would measure the relative probability that the landforms found there are natural formations versus artificial structures. We now know eight such tests. The test results remained mixed until the end of 1996, despite favoring an artificial origin. Then a possible connection between Cydonia and the exploded planet hypothesis (eph) came to light in December 1996. This reversed the conclusions of the three test results appearing to favor a natural origin. In light of the eph connection, these test results now favor an artificial origin of Cydonia at better than a 99% confidence level. Details of the tests and the exploded planet connection can be found in this authors paper New Evidence of Artificiality at Cydonia on Mars, Meta Res.Bull., vol. 6, #1 (1997), also posted at <www.metaresearch.org>. At this time, all available test results indicated a probable artificial origin for objects in the Cydonia complex. This engendered high public interest. Consequently, on March 26 JPL/NASA announced that Cydonia would be one of the priority targets for the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft during the month of April 1998. The new camera was capable of producing images with 10-50 times better resolution than the earlier Viking images. On April 5, it captured the first such image. |
Dr. Tom Van Flandern |
Tom received his Ph.D. degree in Astronomy from Yale University in 1969. He spent 20 years at the U.S. Naval Observatory, where he became the Chief of the Celestial Mechanics Branch. In 1991, Tom formed a Washington, DC-based organization, Meta Research, to foster research into ideas not otherwise supported solely because they conflict with mainstream theories in Astronomy. Tom is editor of the Meta Research Bulletin, which specializes in reporting anomalies and evidence that does not fit with standard theories in the field. He is also a Research Associate at the University of Maryland Physics Department in College Park, MD working on improving the accuracy of the Global Positioning System.
North Atlantic Books is the publisher of Tom's 1993 book, "Dark Matter, Missing Planets and New Comets". As with his research papers, the book is critical of many standard models in astronomy, such as the Oort Cloud, the Dirty Snowball, and the Big Bang theory. Tom also organizes the Eclipse Edge Expeditions to optimal solar eclipse viewing sites. During his career as a professional research astronomer, Tom has been honored by a prize from the Gravity Research Foundation; served on the Council of American Astronomical Society's Division on Dynamical Astronomy; taught astronomy at the University of South Florida and to Navy Department employees; been a consultant to NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab; and done several spots for the "Project Universe" series that continues to air occasionally on public TV. To learn more about Dr. Van Flandern , please visit metaresearch.org |