[extropy-chat] Curious structures on the surface of Mars

[Terry W. Colvin]

Forwarding permission was given by William R. Corliss.

Science Frontiers, No. 152, Mar-Apr, 2004, p. 2
< http://www.science-frontiers.com >

ASTRONOMY

Curious structures on the surface of Mars

Several camera-carrying spacecraft have landed successfully on the surface of
Mars.  The pictures they radio back to our gaping, dish-like antennas show
mostly just rocks, dirt, and some hills in the distance.  Great for geologists,
but not too exciting for laymen.  Photos from artificial satellites circling
Mars can be more interesting.  The evidence for flowing water and even
glaciers is becoming more and more convincing.  Again, the geologists are
are ecstatic, but it's Dullsville for most folks who want sure signs of
Martian life.

But, hold on!  A few of the multitudinous satellite photos show some oddball
structures.  Pyramidal shapes are surprisingly common; then, there's that
famous "face."  If you are patient and go through these photos systematically,
there are many images to ponder over---structures for which we have no ready
explanation.

T. Van Flandern has collected some of these suspicious structures in an
article in his *Meta Research Bulletin*.  We reproduce here the one that
*seems* to us highly suggestive of a geodesic dome.  Actually, it looks
like a half-buried golf ball, but it is really miles in diameter.  Artificial
or trick of Nature?

(Van Flandern, Tom; "Forbidden Shapes on Mars," *Meta Research Bulletin*,
12:49, no. 4, December 2003)

[Photo]
A Martian crater with a domed interior.  Reference:
< http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/m13_m_gif_non_map/M15/M1501228.gif >.


[Science Frontiers is a bimonthly collection of digests of scientific
anomalies in the current literature.  Published by the Sourcebook Project,
P.O. Box 107, Glen Arm, MD 21057.  Annual subscription: $8.00.]


-- 
"Only a zit on the wart on the heinie of progress." Copyright 1992, Frank Rice


Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1 at mindspring.com >
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