Posthuman Blues

Here's where my "cryptoterrestrial" thought experiment starts getting weird:

Although accounts of "little people" imply a nonhuman civilization parallel to our own, the "others" generally have a recognizably human-like appearance, suggesting a common ancestry. If so, where did we originate? On Earth? Possibly. But it's imperative that we examine more far-flung real-estate, if only to cover all bases and rule out red herrings. I'm particularly attracted to Mars, a planet that boasts some unlikely formations that may be archaeological sites.

If Mars is indeed a piece of the puzzle, the cryptoterrestrials with whom we share the planet may retain a collective memory of their ancestral world. Meawhile, our scientific mainstream has accustomed itself to scoffing dismissal -- or, at best, lukewarm assurances that anomalies such as the Face, located in the Cydonia Mensae region, are simply geological oddities that prey on our inclination to seek meaning in the unfamiliar.





The prospect of a common Martian ancestry is appealing, in part, because it's testable. While telerobotic spacecraft may fail to return a definitive verdict (assuming they're steered toward potential archaeological sites in the first place), at least they will help prepare astronauts for eventual crewed exploration of the Red Planet.

It's all-too-tempting to speculate that the CTs are well aware of our plans to "invade" Mars. Anticipating the revelations in store, they may treat the issue with the same doting care intelligence agencies lavish on disinformation campaigns, determined to throw us off the trail without sacrificing their virtual invisibility.

Alternatively, they might attempt to actively hasten Mars exploration. In this scenario, they want to be found out -- at least in part -- but only if disclosure remains on their terms. After all, we live on an increasingly crowded planet. Eventual contact may be inevitable. Martian ruins or not, the cryptoterrestrial agenda is likely stocked with contingency plans, some of which may have already gone into effect.

For example, there's evidence to suggest crashed "alien" hardware. If our own governments should ever pierce the "extraterrestrial" smokescreen -- assuming they already haven't -- the CTs might reasonably expect increased surveillance or even infiltration. How they would deal with such unwanted curiosity is anyone's guess, but perhaps they might choose to "leak" their own existence in strategic piecemeal fashion.

Such clues could lead the human race on an unsettling (but ultimately enlightening) ride -- but only if we're wise enough to recognize the offer.