![]() ![]() But what they hadn’t anticipated was that some in the public thought it was actually an artificially carved human face, despite the accompanying explanation that it was just a hill that happened to have this funny resemblance to a face when the light was at a certain angle. It was a clear rendering of a human face! NASA engineers loved it they passed it around, put it out for publication, and had all sorts of fun with it. Among a number of similar hillocks and mesas in a region of Mars called Cydonia Mensae, one feature stood out. It was 1976, and Viking I was sending its latest images. There, in yet another series of photographs from Mars, is a distinct human face. But then, as it finishes printing the second page, your eye catches that long sheet of perforated printer paper folding into a pile on the floor, and you see something unbelievable. You’ve heard this all before and seen a million badly printed images. You’re startled, but annoyed and as it starts hammering out its latest data, you try to go back to sleep. You start to drowse off in your chair, when suddenly the teletype jumps to life with a loud mechanical bang. The coffee’s cold and, outside, the rain drums steadily against the window. Imagine yourself in a NASA control room, late at night. Today’s sponsor: This episode of 365 Days of Astronomy is sponsored by the Amateur Astronomers from Launceston Tasmania. He has appeared on numerous radio shows and television documentaries. A Silicon Valley computer scientist by trade, Brian now uses new media to promote critical thinking. ![]() Brian is also the author of two books based on the podcast, Skeptoid and Skeptoid II. Skeptoid has a weekly audience of 70,000 listeners. But photography, the perceptual phenomenon called pareidolia, and the Law of Large Numbers combine to say that it’s simply a natural hill.īio: Brian Dunning is the host and producer of the podcast Skeptoid: Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena ( ), applying critical thinking to paranormal and pseudoscientific subjects promoted by the mass media. Some believe it’s proof of a Martian civilization. ![]() Description: Today we look at the face on Mars in the Cydonia Mensae region. ![]()
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