Astronomical Pseudo-Science: A Skeptic's Resource List (Version 3.0; August 2003)

4. The "Face" on Mars

A popular "government conspiracy" theory held that NASA has actually discovered a human face (as well as pyramids and other structures) on Mars, but was withholding crucial information from the public about the profound implications of this discovery. The real story is a lot less exciting and involves a perfectly natural geologic formation on the red planet. In spring 1998, the Mars Observer spacecraft took a much more detailed close-up image of the region in question, and found no evidence of anything that looked unnatural or like a face.

Achenbach, Joel Captured by Aliens. 1999, Simon & Schuster. Has the full story and history of the face as part of a fugue on SETI, UFO's, and conflicting systems of belief.

Gardner, M. "The Great Stone Face" in Skeptical Inquirer, Fall 1985, p. 14. (Reprinted in his book, Notes of a Fringe Watcher, 1988, Prometheus.)

Morrison, D. "A Review of Books on the Face on Mars" in Skeptical Inquirer, Fall 1988, p. 76.

Morrison, D. "Mars Global Surveyor Photographs 'Face on Mars'" in Skeptical Inquirer, Jul/Aug. 1998, p. 23.

Posner, G. "The Face Behind the Face on Mars: A Skeptical Look at Richard Hoagland" in Skeptical Inquirer, Nov/Dec. 2000, p. 20. The full story of the exploits of the writer whose efforts keep the 'face on Mars' myth alive.

Posner, G. "Putting a Better Face on the 'Face' on Mars" in Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 2001, p. 65. An update to the above, with better images.

Sagan, Carl "The Man in the Moon and the Face on Mars," Chapter 3 of his book, The Demon-Haunted World. 1995, Random House.

Web Sites:

The full story of the earlier and recent NASA images can be found on the Science@NASA site at: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast24may_1.htm [This site has a link to a suggested trail map for climbing "the Face" mesa.]

The official Mars Global Surveyor images and discussion of "the Face" is at:
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/
extended_may2001/face/index.html

Gary Posner's devastating article about "Face-advocate" Richard Hoagland, with useful links and follow up is at: http://members.aol.com/garypos2/Hoagland.html

Teachers' Newsletter on the 'Face' (from the ASP): http://www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/25/25.html

The Original Viking "Face on Mars" image can be found at: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01141

A comparison of the much-touted face image with a better Mars Orbiter Camera image is at: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01442

The best Global Surveyor image can be found at: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03225

Just for fun, here are a few more "faces" on Mars, as found in old images: http://members.aol.com/tbskep/Mars_morefaces.html

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