Friday, December 14, 2007

NASA gets hip to Mars anomalies:

Strange Shapes Seen on Mars

NASA scientists have discovered what might form some of the weirdest landscapes on Mars, winding channels carved into the Martian surface that scientists have dubbed "spiders," "lace" and "lizard skin."

The unusual landscape features form in an area of Mars' south pole called cryptic terrain because it once defied explanation.

(Via The Anomalist.)


"Cryptic terrain." I like that.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

NASA gets hip to Mars anomalies

Yeah, but they're still PRESUPPOSING they have a "natural" explanation. To my mind, some of the objects that the rovers have photographed look unmistakably artificial.

I know we disagree about this but I think it's really a matter of degree. I simply assign a higher probability of artificiality to some stuff. (Oh, I don't know, perfect, black ceramic-like rectangles with rounded corners that look like hatch covers?) For that's all that it is; without a human visit, there really is no way to know for certain...no, actually there is but NASA won't don't it because all objects on Mars MUST be natural. THEREFORE, they CAN'T be artificial, therefore they're not, therefore they're natural. And if that's not circular reasoning, I've got a great bridge across the East River to sell you!

--W.M. Bear

Mac said...

Yeah, but they're still PRESUPPOSING they have a "natural" explanation.

NASA's specifically addressing the organic-looking features that got Arthur C. Clarke's attention (such as the "banyan trees," which appear geological now that we can see them up close ... not that certain "researchers" will care.)

Anonymous said...

"...perfect, black ceramic-like rectangles with rounded corners that look like hatch covers?"

Um, where do you see these kinds of things? Could you give us an online pix pointer?

Anonymous said...

Mac--

I think it's a question of trust more than anything. Many of us out here on the fringe don't hold much of anything NASA says as gospel. I mean, you yourself know about the strange lengths they'll go to in order to obscure data. The long incompetent history of NASA and the Face on Mars, to me at least, is evidence that they do not want the public to grasp certain aspects of Martian history. Can you really trust an agency with this kind of track record?

Denny

Anonymous said...

Um, where do you see these kinds of things? Could you give us an online pix pointer?

SpFthazcam741shellpctwo-1.jpg

For starters. I know this isn't the picture itself. I'll brush up on my HTML and see if I can post it directly on this thread.

You might be able to find it on the NASA rover site using this file name. (From the filename, this one is courtesy of Spirit.) If you do find it, I think you'll be mildly amazed. I actually got this one (and a host other "Martian artifacts" pix) off geraldt's "Mars Relay Station" Web site, a truly amazing effort devoted mainly to spotting POSSIBLE Martian artifacts in the Rover pix. Geraldt came up with some other real doozies too, before a personal tragedy unfortunately forced him to discontinue. Geraldt typically posted stuff that even other anomalistics sites didn't catch. (PB used to have a link.)

If you're not afraid to post an address, I can email you the jpeg file itself. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

--WMB

Anonymous said...

Mac -- I know the story focused on Martian polar phenomena as photographed from orbit (Clarke's "spiders," which, if I recall correctly, he was originally convinced HAD to be organic). I also read about this "outgassing" explanation elsewhere some time ago too. But my point still stands. Whether we're talking about possible Martian organism or Martian artifacts, NASA is PREDISPOSED to "natural" explanations. And, as they say, if all you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail....

--WMB

Anonymous said...

Hah! I found another one of the "ceramic panel" that's even better. Seems that NASA did steer lil ole Spirit in this direction for a semi closeup. This one even shows some strange markings on the object that look like hash marks on a scale of some sort. ("Of course" they MUST be just perfectly straight and evenly-spaced scratches made by sandstorm erosion....)

SpNC741-6Shell.jpg

--WMB