The Society for Planetary SETI Research today announced that their analysis of the craters shown in the April images captured by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor indicates that several may well contain frozen pools of ice. SPSR researcher and geologist Harry Moore discovered that several craters in the image captured by MGS on April 24 show craters with what appear to be flat, highly reflective surfaces in their centers. A crater located in the upper one-third of the April 24 image, not only clearly shows the apparently flat surface in its bottom but also shows the afternoon sun reflecting off the flat surface and leaving a circular reflection of light on the far crater wall. In addition, poster sessions by various SPSR members at the American Geophysical Union Spring meetings in Boston will conclude that the controversial feature often called the Mars "face" is most likely an artificial construction, and that it shows strong evidence of having been eroded by water runoff. Image scientist Dr. Mark Carlotto's AGU paper shows that the general symmetry of the Mars face is between 92 and 99%, depending on the measuring system, while SPSR geologist James Erjavec points toward strong evidence of water-based erosion of the Mars face. Since it's highly unlikely even on Mars that these indications of erosion could have survived four billion years, the indication is that Mars had an active water environment far more recently than standard Mars theory would previously have suggested. Combined, these three findings all point toward a past Mars which was much more Earthlike than Mars scientists previously thought and make it likely that the water era on Mars may have lasted until around 500 million years ago. However, SPSR cautions that all findings are tentative and SPSR President Dr. Horace Crater said that SPSR strongly supports NASA Director Dan Goldin's calls for Mars Global Surveyor to capture many more images of Cydonia in order to settle once and for all the questions about possible artificial features there. Crater, of the University of Tennessee Space Institute, also recommended that NASA perform extensive spectrographic analysis of the entire Cydonia region of the Northern Plains of Mars in order to determine if the SPSR's early findings of possible frozen surface water on Mars are confirmed. Crater said that if the early findings of Martian surface water ice hold up, that it may be far easier for NASA to establish human settlements on Mars than was previously expected. The likelihood of Mars holding all the resources necessary for successful human settlement was also bolstered by the findings of Mars meteorite researcher Dr. John Brandenburg, whose paper presented to the AGU onThursday concludes that the highly organic carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are very probably from Mars. Since their composition is quite similar to oil shale bearing rocks found on Earth, similar layers of such material on Mars would probably provide all the organic material necessary for developing plastics, liquid propellants and heating fuel. The SPSR is a collection of Phds, professors and other credentialed researchers and scientists, some of whom have spent up to the last twenty years analyzing possible evidence for extraterrestrial artifacts on Earth and other planets of the solar system. Many of their findings are summarized in the recent book, The Case for the Face: Scientists Examine the Evidence for Alien Artifacts on Mars, available from Adventures Unlimited Press and through many of the major book chains nationwide. Dr. Brandenburg will be at the Book Expo America on Saturday at the SCB Book Distributors in Chicago to discuss the findings of the SPSR and to promote The Case for the Face. Several online articles about the findings of the SPSR may be found at the following web sites: http://www.psrw/~markc/marshome.html/ http://www.mcdanielreport.com, as well as extensive recent coverage at http://forums.msn.com/ufo http://www.abcnews.com/ Media contacts may be initiated through Mind Into Matter, 773-381-1122, Fax 773-381-1899, email hoomai@aol.com
June, 1998
Return to UFO Folklore !