Mars is the planet that we most closely relate to Earth. So, is it any wonder that we try to find life on it? We have scanned the Martian surface looking for whatever we can. We have pieced together canals due to looking at the surface too hard, but the most controversial is the face on Mars.

In 1976 NASA sent out the Viking 1 to take some photographs of the Martian surface to find a suitable landing site for the Viking 2. As it was passing over the Cydonia region of Mars it snapped the photo of a landform that had a startling resemblance to a human face. NASA may have had some shock but, they knew that the resolution of the camera and the shadows could play tricks on the human mind. NASA decided to release the photo since it was just a neat looking photograph that would captivate the people and get more publicity for the space program. Instead it sparked a controversy of alien existence and a government cover-up.

What exactly is this face? Simply put, it is a two-mile long butte or mesa. The weathering and shadowy effect the sun played on it created a face. It really does not get any simpler than that. It is a very simple answer that makes a lot of sense, so, it’s shocking what people have come up with.

In 1979 NASA had some computer technicians working on contract. They had come across the picture during their daily work and decided to check it out. They enhanced the picture and came to the conclusion that the face wasn’t natural. Not only that, but they also saw some pyramids. This sparked several rumors about an alien civilization. Some say they saw forts, shacks and other structures in the picture. This is when some theories came into play. Some said that since Mars was similar to Earth in some ways, they evolved almost exactly like us. There was also the theory that we are Martians that left their planet after it became uninhabitable or after some kind of catastrophic incident occurred, and that the face was a sign to us if our technology was lost and had to be regained again. Obviously NASA’s explanation made the most sense but what can stop the human mind?

In 1998 NASA decided to take a few more pictures of the famous face. It came back looking nothing like a face, and the tabloids kept printing out stories about how the Martians knew we were coming or that NASA was once again hiding the real face. The argument was that it was a cloudy time of the year on Mars and that could have hid and distorted the features of the face. So in 2001 NASA decided to end the space odyssey of the so-called sign of alien existence. NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor took a trip and shot a photo of the face at maximum resolution. There were no clouds and there was no face or even pyramids. There wasn’t anything close.

So the new pictures clearly show that there is no face. Most of the outrageous claims have vanished, Yet several astronomy conversations will always stray towards the face on Mars and if the moon landing ever happened. As long as TV specials continue airing these topics without showing the facts to benefit science the non-astronomer will believe in extra terrestrial life. It is merely a sign of the human need to know that we are not alone.