by Mac Tonnies
Speculative mission patch for Earth’s first manned mission to Mars. The craft depicted is nuclear-powered. Patch Design and Image courtesy Kenn Brown, Mondolithic Studios.
The clock is ticking.
We don’t yet know if the anomalies at Cydonia are the remnants of an extraterrestrial culture. But the prospect is imminently testable; a crewed mission to Mars could be underway in ten years, using essentially off-the-shelf hardware. If we elect to visit Mars in the near future, it’s likely the Mars-bound craft will even embody many of the features familiar from the Space Shuttle as well as from the Apollo moon shots. We don’t require any technological quantum leaps to investigate Cydonia firsthand; however, we certainly need a radical departure from the present NASA bureaucracy, as well as the willingness to entertain once-heretical notions.
Our world is poised on the edge of technological singularity, in which sentient (or near-sentient) computers, acting in concert with nanotechnology and broadband telecommunications, will revolutionize virtually every aspect of our lives, from transportation to medicine to leisure.
But the most important boon of all will be the insight gained into ourselves. How will our relationship to the cosmos change? Will world politics continue down millennia-old paths of warfare and mutual paranoia, or will technological progress result in a heightened sense of perspective, so acutely captured in Carl Sagan’s vision of Earth as a vulnerable “pale blue dot” adrift in a sunbeam?
Mainstream SETI, founded on the cynical dogma that extrasolar aliens will be unable to visit, is already beginning to fracture under the onslaught of twenty-first century science. It is possible to get here from there—wherever “there” is. Cydonia is our first, precious opportunity to tackle the existential and cosmological riddle of extraterrestrial intelligence.
For the first time in the history of our species, we’re haunted by the possibility of seeing our own planetary ego through alien eyes. Will we like what we see, or will we ultimately choose not to look? If we do, it may be with a new, younger set of eyes.
NASA has been hostile to attempts to democratize space, from its super-stringent, grudging permission of space tourism to proposed restrictions on civilian launch companies such as TransOrbital. But the satellite industry, grown wary of NASA’s prohibitive launch costs, has spawned a promising private-sector space industry. Hobbyist rocketeers are on the verge of achieving escape velocity, both literally and figuratively.
While the leap from Earth orbit to Mars is vast indeed, it’s just possible that today’s commercial space enterprises will play an increasingly meaningful role. And as microelectronics become cheaper and more ubiquitous, dispatching a privately maintained Mars orbiter becomes plausible. After all, the highly successful Surveyor is basically a clone of the failed Mars Observer, built from existing parts. Perhaps exceptionally ambitious entrepreneurs will find the means to build an orbiter or lander dedicated to investigation of the Cydonia region, perhaps by refurbishing technology left over from NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which landed successfully in January 2004.
At the margins of the possible is a commercially financed private manned Mars mission, perhaps with the cooperation of the Russian and European Space Agencies. Fortunately, the ESA doesn’t seem to share the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s aversion to Martian life. Its failed 2003 Beagle 2 lander was the first attempt to test for life on the Red Planet since the Viking mission set sail in 1975. Given the recent discovery of surface water ice, any forthcoming findings from the ESA should help refine our view of Mars’s enigmatic past. If the features in Cydonia test positively for artificiality, a geological and chemical survey of the Red Planet will help us date their construction.
Barring catastrophe on Earth, humans will ultimately tread the fabled plains of Cydonia. Humanity is in the painful process of achieving ideological escape velocity. But once the confines of Earth are broken, we will be all the more resilient for our effort. Shards of a holographic plate, when shattered, are able to recreate the original image. Our durability as a species is similar; we can become far more than the sum of our collective parts if we willingly dash ourselves against alien shores. A diaspora of space-borne humanity can and will inundate the cosmos. Knowledge will mushroom as surely as the universe’s own runaway expansion.
If the Martians were an extrasolar species, we might hope to eventually encounter them. If they were an indigenous species destroyed in an apocalypse beyond contemporary understanding, we will take to the environs of space gifted with foreknowledge.
Exploration of Mars is neither scientific fancy nor a novel exercise in engineering. Increasingly, the mystery of Mars’s death is a critical piece in the scattered puzzle of our own survival. Poets have written of mankind’s “pathetic fallacy”—that nature somehow empathizes with our plight. Mars is ours only if we summon the foresight to take it—as well as any unexpected revelations it may have in store for us.
Acknowledgments
A variety of people have contributed to the development of this book, often without realizing it. First, I owe a debt of gratitude to Patrick Huyghe for conceptualizing this book and supporting it. Many thanks are due to Chris Joseph for his superior shape-from-shading renderings and spirited commentary on Mars and nonhuman intelligence. I’m also grateful for the support of Kurt Jonach (http://www.electricwarrior.com), whose patient approach to the unfolding spectacle that is Internet “Mars weirdness” has provided a novel sense of perspective. Image processor Lan Fleming has provided level, fascinating coverage of the Martian enigmas that has inspired a great deal of this book. Thanks to Zak for the illustrations, free CDs, and eclectic email. Special thanks to Efrain Palermo, the first to seriously propose that the anomalous “streaks” on Mars are due to liquid water (regardless of what the mainstream science press says). Fringe researchers of all stripes should aspire to his level of commitment and capacity for wonder. J. P. Levasseur of the Society for Planetary SETI Research has played a quiet but important role in my research, pointing out the shifting standards for evidence that plague the embryonic field of extraterrestrial archaeology. Thanks to Bill Dash and Gerry Forster for presenting my views on the Mars anomaly controversy on the Web. Peter A. Gersten deserves my sincere thanks for including my commentary in his daily electronic newsletter as well as for alerting me to interesting developments.
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Selected Bibliography
Aczel, Amir. Probability 1. New York: Harvest Books, 2000.
Binder, Eando. Puzzle of the Space Pyramids. Curtis Books, 1971.
Bova, Ben. Return to Mars. New York: Eos, 2000.
Bracewell, Ronald. The Galactic Club. Stanford: Stanford Alumni Association, 1974.
Brandenburg, John. Paxson, Monica Rix. Dead Mars, Dying Earth. Berkeley: Crossing Press, 2000.
Carlotto, Mark. The Martian Enigmas. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1997.
Clarke, Arthur. 2001: A Space Odyssey. New York: Roc, 2000.
Hancock, Graham. The Mars Mystery. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999.
Hoagland, Richard. The Monuments of Mars. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2001.
Kurzweil, Ray. The Age of Spiritual Machines. New York: Penguin, 2000.
McDaniel, Stanley. The McDaniel Report. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1994.
McDaniel, Stanley. Paxson, Monica Rix (eds). The Case for the Face. Berkeley: Adventures Unlimited Press, 1998.
Moravec, Hans. Robot. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
O’Neill, Gerard. The High Frontier. Princton: Space Studies I
nstitute, 1989.
Rux, Bruce. Architects of the Underworld. Berkeley: Frog Ltd., 1996.
Sagan, Carl. Contact. New York: Pocket Books, 1995.
Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World. New York: Random House, 1995.
Sagan, Carl. Pale Blue Dot. New York: Ballantine, 1997.
Sawyer, Robert. Calculating God. New York: Forge, 2001.
Shklovskii, I. S. Sagan, Carl. Intelligent Life in the Universe. New York: Delta, 1998.
Sitchin, Zechariah. The Twelfth Planet. New York: Avon, 1999
Steele, Allen. Labyrinth of Night. New York: Ace Books, 2001.
Tipler, Frank. The Physics of Immortality. New York: Anchor, 1997.
Zubrin, Robert. Wagner, Richard. The Case for Mars. New York: Free Press, 1997.
Online References
Essential Mars/Cydonia websites
New Frontiers in Science
(http://www.newfrontiersinscience.com)
Co-edited by Mark Carlotto, New Frontiers in Science is a stimulating online science journal that dares to tackle forbidden subjects such as the Face on Mars.
VGL (http://www.vgl.org)
Lan Fleming’s VGL is a studious repository of planetary SETI research and expert commentary.
Palermo’s Martian Anomalies (http://palermoproject.com)
Efrain Palermo’s systematic hunt for liquid water on Mars is chronicled here alongside his extrapolation of the Phobos “monolith.”
The Enterprise Mission (http://www.enterprisemission.com)
Science writer Richard C. Hoagland’s massive, ever-controversial Mars anomaly site.
For more individually reviewed anomaly sites, visit http://www.mactonnies.com/cydonialinks.html.
Index
(Italic numbers indicate photographs)
alien contact
alien head icon
aliens
civilizations transmissions visitation
ancient astronaut theory
anomalies
bright markings Cerberus region Cydonia enduring “Epcot Center,” Face fragility of geometric Hoagland on Mounds platform search for secondary sites devoted to Surveyor’s re-imaging of thermal trigonometric
anomalists
access to data and disclosure of extraterrestrial reality ideas
anomaly community
anomaly-detection system
anomaly researchers
Anthropic Cosmological Principle
anthropocentric thought
apocalypse
apocalypse (Mars)
Apollo astronauts
Apollo missions
Apollo moon landings
archaeology
architecture
alien D&M Pyramid geology or
arcology(ies)
Arecibo Observatory
artifacts
alien anomalous communication with extraterrestrial
artifacts (cont.)
Face as on Moon in movies NASA and ownership of protocol for discovery of search for SETI’s rejection of sites devoted to in solar system and technology
artificiality
bright lines Cerberus Platform City Cliff Cydonia features D&M Pyramid evidence favoring Face Fort Martian moons memes advocating Mounds proving quest for sites for structures on Mars tests for Tholus
Artificiality Hypothesis
City in vindication of
Asimov, Isaac
asteroid belt
asteroids
astronauts
atmosphere
vanishing
Bara, Mike
Barker, Bill
believers
Bell, Art
Binder, Eando
Biosphere II
biotechnology
Blair Cuspids
Bova, Ben
Bracewell, Ronald
Bracewell probes
Bradbury, Ray
Brandenburg, John
bright markings
Brookings Institution
Brookings report
Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Burroughs, William S.
Camelback Mountain
canals
claim for legend of
Carlotto, Mark J.
D&M fractal survey and Hollow images of Tholus statistical analysis by
Case for the Face, The (SPSR)
celestial events
Cerberus Ellipses 1 and 2 (CE1, CE2)
Cerberus Platform
Chilbolton Observatory formations
Chryse Planitia
City
artificiality formations Mounds
City complex
City Mound
City Pyramid
bright lines erosion on five-sided moat substructures waterfront view
City Square
civilizations
alien Cydonian extrasolar extraterrestrial on Moon technological see also Martian civilization
Clarke, Arthur C.
Face in mass launching
Cliff
access road artificiality elevated feature on lamp “splash” crater near Tholus and wall/ramp
clones
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (film)
Coast to Coast AM,
Coathanger
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP)
conspiracy theories
Apollo Moon landings of Hoagland
Contact (film)
Contact (Sagan)
Corso, Philip J.
cosmos
postbiological
Cosmos (Sagan)
cover-ups
by NASA
Crater, Horace W.
Crater Stickney
Crowned Face
Cydonia
alien artifacts as alien theme park angular mesas in architecture artificial structures in, ( see also artificiality) cultural identity in excluded from SETI research features in formations in fractal survey of geometry in as habitat images of on Internet investigating mesas converted to buildings message of oddities in planetary context problem posed by public speculation reality of Sagan and sites devoted to structural detail in taking seriously target for future space probes technology and tube-like features underground infrastructure website visitor’s guide to
Cydonia complex
age of City Square in Face in Mounds in redundancy of layout technology in
Cydonia controversy
Hoagland in Internet and
Cydonia Hilton (Dragon’s Teeth)
Cydonia issue
fiction addressing NASA’s handling of
Cydonia Mensae region
Cydonia Quest site
Cydonia region
geology of geomorphology
Cydonia region (cont.)
images of manned exploration of
Cydonia researchers
Hoagland’s schism, with
Cydonian desert
“Cydonian Hypothesis,”
Cydonian sea
Cydonians
biological/cultural heritage humanoids visiting Earth
D&M Pyramid
bilateral symmetry five-sided “glyphs” on in new light Tholus and tunnel leading into 2003 mosaic of
Darwin, Charles
debunkers
debunking
and fame of the Face memes in by NASA by Sagan by skeptics
Deimos
destruction, deliberate
Dick, Philip K.
DiPietro, Vincent
DNA
Dolan, Richard
Dolphin
Dolphin Mesa
dolphin-shaped formation
Drasin, Daniel
Dyson Sphere
Earth
colonization Cydonians visiting dying extinction-level events global warming intelligence on links with Mars Martians evacuating to nonhuman intelligence visiting nuclear winter overdue for global killer photos of twenty-first century
Egypt
Eg
yptian profile
Elysium
“Encyclopedia Galactica,”
England, Jill
enigmas
Cydonia Face Mars probes
Enterprise Mission
“Epcot Center,”
erosion
the Face
Europa
Event (the)
evolution
accelerating
exobiologists
exobiology
Exploded Planet Hypothesis (EPH)
extraterrestrial contact
extraterrestrial intelligence
confirmation of many faces of Mars linked to prehistoric run-ins with search for see also SETI
extraterrestrial structures
extraterrestrial visitation
extraterrestrials
colonizing communication with on Earth “scientific” quest for visiting
Face
as anomaly artificiality of asymmetry “beacon” explanation brow catbox photo challenge posed by Chilbolton formations and chin Cliff near in Contact controversy over crevasse cultural function of D&M linked with discovery of eastern side erosion on evidence of intelligence eye feline form fractal analysis as habitat harelip feature headdress humanoid resemblance as icon images lips location of media depiction of in meme theory MGS shot of in Mission to Mars as monument mouth NASA and nostrils photos as place marker platform pullback from as pure idea purpose of reality of Sagan on similarity to Sphinx siren call of skeptics and split-image motif teardrop technological interpretation of two-sided visual metaphor western side
Fermi Paradox
Fiertek, Robert
Fleming, Lan
Fort
alignment artificial structure collapsed inward courtyard erosion on images of rocket fins tube
Fort, Charles
Friedman, Stanton
Generation Ark Model
genes
geoglyphs
geology
tubes in
Giza Necropolis
Giza Pyramids
Grand Unified Theory
Gray aliens
Great Pyramid
Hancock, Graham
Happy Face Crater
Hawking, Stephen
Hecates Tholus
Hellas basin
