Will evidence of artificial structures in our solar system finally open people's eyes?
5/20/2000
Reality Check showcases UFO lawyer Peter Gersten's rare perspective, one that combines legal expertise and cosmic awareness.
A new player has joined our three-dimensional "Right to Know" game. He is David Jinks, the author of The Monkey and the Tetrahedron, and he has recently formed the activist organization, "The Formal Action Committee for Extra-Terrestrial Studies" (FACETS). FACETS is dedicated to obtaining and sharing evidence of artificiality in our solar system.
Whereas the evidence to prove our contact with another intelligence, though overwhelming, relies primarily on eyewitness testimony, evidence of artificial structures on our neighboring planets and their moons, though limited to photographs, is based upon scientific principles.
Scientist Tom Van Flandern (www.metaresearch.org/) stated that in his expert opinion, there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt (a legal standard in criminal cases) of unnatural structures in the Cydonia region of Mars. The evidence also suggests structures enormous in size and complexity and created by a very advanced technology. Several other scientists, members of the prestigious Society for Planetary SETI Research (SPSR), have reached the same conclusion. But the vast majority of the scientific community is still either ignorant of these findings or lack the strength to acknowledge, let alone become involved in, something so controversial.
Richard C. Hoagland, director of the Enterprise Mission (www.enterprisemission.com) believes there is evidence of artificiality not only on Mars, but also on our own moon, as well of the moons of Jupiter. Interestingly, there is evidence that Mars was actually a moon of a planet that was destroyed thousands of years ago.
Whereas the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program continues to scan our galaxy for life signs using primitive radio signals, FACETS will be collecting analyzing photographic evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence closer to home. FACETS believes that the search for evidence of artificiality should be a national priority. The significance and implications of such a finding transcends all social, political, economic, and religious concerns. Our natural curiosity and desire to explore the unknown, while learning more about our reality, is being ignored by a small group whose only agenda is maintaining control and restricting the free flow of information.
Statement of Purpose for FACETS
Sufficient evidence exists in available NASA imagery to warrant serious consideration of the Artificiality Hypothesis. (The Artificiality Hypothesis is the supposition that geologically anomalous landforms on the moon, Mars, and elsewhere in the solar system may be remnants of artificial structures.)
It is in the interest of science to acquire a wide variety of high resolution images of these potential ruins, and to engage in an honest, open, multi-disciplinary investigation of all data pertinent to scientific confirmation or denial of the Artificiality Hypothesis.
FACETS was formed to encourage, in every way possible, the acquisition and investigation of data which can help confirm or deny the Artificiality Hypothesis.
FACETS' strategies include:
1. Education, via presentations, articles and other methods of communication, of lay and scientific communities about available evidence supportive of the Artificiality Hypothesis.
2. Gathering grassroots support, via all methods of publicity, and translating that support into formal requests of space agencies, via petition, writing or faxing campaigns, to acquire data pertinent to confirming or denying the Artificiality Hypothesis.
3. As a last resort, initiating legal action against parties who fail to respond appropriately to reasonable requests from constituents asking for data relating to the Artificiality Hypothesis.
As you read this article, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) is orbiting Mars. Approximately every six weeks it passes over the Cydonia region. Every six weeks, there is an opportunity to gather photographic evidence that could go a long way in proving what FACETS believes is scattered throughout our solar system.
NASA has a contract with the California Institute of Technology, which the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is part of, to survey Mars using the MGS. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) is the JPL subcontractor who determines what areas of Mars are photographed. Unfortunately, though earlier involved in his career analyzing the Billy Meier photographs, Malin has publicly stated that there is nothing of any value at the Cydonia region, comparing any request to re-image the area on the same scale as a request to look for the Loch Ness monster. Mallin.s opinion seems to be in direct opposition to NASA.s public statement:
POSITION ON RE-PHOTOGRAPHING THE CYDONIA REGION
NASA wishes to make it very clear that the objectives for the Mars Global Surveyor mission that have been approved as part of its authorization by the US Congress are to "globally" characterize the surface and atmospheric properties of the planet Mars. These objectives and the selection of the scientists that will gather data and perform experiments to fulfill them were reviewed by a large number of panels, including those of NASA and the National Academy of Science.
No specific features or regions have been prioritized by these objectives. Targets for observations by all of the mission's science instruments, including the high resolution imaging instrument, will be determined by the scientists selected by NASA to conduct the experiments based on their collective judgment as to the best and most cost effective use of the mission resources.
We expect that there will be widespread scientific and public interest in the new results from Mars. As such, there is a strong commitment by NASA and the MGS scientists to release data to the public on a timely basis. The project will be releasing data shortly after receipt on the Internet in a manner similar to that seen on the Clementine, Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, and Mars Pathfinder missions.
The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft is only able to photograph features on the surface of Mars that are directly below it as it makes each orbital pass. The spacecraft will fly directly over the Cydonia region, where enigmatic features were observed in the Viking mission, a few times during its mapping mission. The Mars Global Surveyor project will announce these imaging opportunities in advance and will post the resultant images on the Internet.
Though Cydonia photographs were taken earlier this year, no prior notice was given, it was months before the images were released and then only after Senator John McCain of Arizona, suggested that NASA would be held accountable for any information it was derelict in releasing.
Earlier this month, FACETS sponsored an Internet petition to formally request the re-imaging of Cydonia during the Surveyor's last flyover on May 7th. Though over 3,000 signatures were garnered in less than a week, there has been no official acknowledgement that the region was indeed photographed. Thus another opportunity to collect valuable evidence has been lost. FACETS plans to sponsor a petition for each of the next two flyovers. If these opportunities are also wasted, the organization is considering legal action to assure that whatever evidence of artificiality exists on Mars is forever preserved photographically.