Mars - The Telescopic Evidence
by Daniel Ross

When the spaceships appeared in the late 1940s, and sightings reports began to number in the thousands, scientific specialists advising government and military authorities believed that Venus and Mars were the origin of the spacecraft. They were more certain after recovering a few ships that had crashed near our atomic test sites. Then an almost impenetrable security lid came down, to censor any evidence from official sources that life existed beyond the earth.

A Silence Group, working for those in entrenched worldly positions, infiltrated secret departments and intelligence agencies to insure that confirmation would never come from official sources or government. Public or private institutions, being generally conservative in matters of science, were unlikely to speculate on the UFO evidence, but in any event, those institutions would not have the means to confirm the origin of the visiting spaceships.

Complete, uncontestable confirmation was strictly the domain of a government space agency, and the official results of any achievements in space exploration were under the sole control of the National Security Agency. Public disclosures regarding planetary environments were care-fully slanted to coincide with long-held orthodox views, and with theories that had become rigid and dogmatic with the scientific establishment.

That Venus and Mars have not been shown as having earthlike environments, is not due to a lack of technology in our space probe exploration, but due to secretive censoring by intelligence agencies directing operations from behind the scenes. So many false ideas on space have been promoted through official channels, and then become solidified in scientific journalism, that one may reasonably wonder if in today's world it can ever be straightened out.

There is no grand conspiracy by science writers to deceive, nor by scientific spokesmen with their speculations on space conditions. They actually believe what they write or say, because these are widely-shared and firmly held perceptions which have been taught for a long time. Their ideas have also been reinforced by the false disclosures publicized through the media by those in control of past space ventures.

Likewise, this article is not in direct opposition to general astronomy. In fact, a lot of information in this present work is based on the observations and lifetime work of expert astronomers. But in establishing the truth about our solar system, it will be noted that there is little agreement with orthodox thinking in the astronomical field. And if one were to restrict himself to one field—any field—one would have very limited knowledge.

Determining the reality behind UFOs requires a complete study involving the whole scope of space sciences.

The problem with all planetary research and common speculation to date, must be defined here at the beginning. It is this: Official presentations regarding planetary space conditions have been made to coincide with (complement) the long standing suppression, and censorship, of the real UFO evidence by our government. This is why the truth about Mars has never been known, publicized, or accepted, up to the present.

Yet it is an important correlation, that eighteen years of UFO sightings, with reports numbering into the thousands, predated the first U.S. space probe to reach Mars on a flyby in July, 1965. Of course, it was never officially admitted that UFOs were a major stimulus for us to investigate the planet. Now, in this present work, it will be established that the Martian environment is very similar to earthly conditions, by a review of the early telescopic record, and then through a logical analysis of the more recent space probe developments.

The early history of telescopic observation of Mars has been recounted in numerous books. It began in 1877, when Giovanni Schiaparelli observed through his 8.75 inch reflecting telescope, a number of long lines on the Martian surface that connected up to larger dark areas. He described the lines as "canali," which in his native language meant channels. But the translation quickly became "canals," and his discovery of them led to the idea that intelligent beings on Mars must have constructed artificial waterways.

While Schiaparelli didn't publicly suggest that conclusion himself, he didn't really discourage others who were promoting the idea, because he had found 113 different canali that were long, straight, and neatly defined. He intricately mapped the planet from years of observation. His maps were the standard for many years, and he gave ancient names from Biblical and classical mythology, along with names from the old geography of the Middle East, to the large surface areas and distinct markings of the planet. The names he gave to the surface features are still existent on maps today.

A distinguished American astronomer, Percival Lowell, decided to dedicate his life to studying Mars.

In 1894, he built the Flagstaff Observatory in Arizona, which housed a 24-inch refracting telescope. By 1915, he and his staff had charted nearly 700 canals—a precise network of large-scale construction on Mars that channeled water from the polar ice caps. They were straight, narrow, sometimes parallel, and at numerous locations the canals intersected geometrically. These latter areas were noted to become seasonally dark, and Lowell named them oases, indicating that vegetation and crop growing were abundant. He naturally concluded that there would be attendant cities for the Martian people at these oases.

Lowell understood that the actual waterways could not be seen from Earth, if it were not for the broad areas of seasonal growth lining both sides. It was the combination of both factors that made it possible to see the network of geometric lines on Mars' surface with clarity. Some of the channels were approximately 3000 miles long, and from 15 to 25 miles wide.1

In 1915 Lowell stated to the scientific world,

"Mars is inhabited, and we have absolute proof."

He proclaimed that the Martian civilization had an intricate and highly advanced irrigation system that could be seen and photographed through Earth-based telescopes. A few pictures had been taken as early as 1907. Lowell's position was so revolutionary to the orthodox views of the scientific establishment, that it received harsh con-tempt from many, and went virtually ignored by others.

Once every twenty-six months, Earth and Mars are at their closest distance from each other in their orbits around the sun, and in astronomy this is called being in opposition. But because the orbits are elliptical, the most favorable opposition occurs only once every fifteen to seventeen years, and at this time the two planets are at their closest, about 35 million miles distant. To view the extensive canals and markings, an astronomer had to have unlimited patience and determination, and more importantly, an open mind.

Like the establishment scientists today, Lowell's contemporaries often lacked such traits. Studying the distant features on Mars through the telescope was difficult and tricky, and could only be done at the large observatories when the local atmospheric conditions and other visibility factors were exceptionally coordinated. But even during the brief periods of favorable opposition, the disk-like image showed a blurring of detail almost continuously, due to the ever-present atmospheric turbulence around both the Earth and Mars.

Our atmosphere is constantly in molecular motion due to thermal activity. To the naked eye, the sky might seem so clear and calm, that a person would assume there is perfect seeing conditions. For looking at stars and nebulae, that would be true, but it's not the same when we view our neigh-boring planets with a large telescope. Through the high power magnification of a telescope, the barely perceptible dynamics of heat (wind) movement in the atmosphere causes a slight shimmering effect, and while the broad features of a planetary image may be easily recognizable, any fine detail is lost in an almost continual slight blurring. Ever so momentarily, our atmospheric unsteadiness will cease for a second or two.

At that precise moment an astute telescopic observer will have a perfect seeing condition, and be able to see in fine detail the planetary image 35 million miles away. Yet these views last but a few seconds, making it extremely difficult to obtain a distinct photograph. Furthermore, the only way that the photographic evidence of the canals can be obtained is when the plan-et is viewed directly overhead. These observations must be made from the best suitable locations in our southern hemisphere.

Lowell made a special expedition to Chile in 1907 and obtained the first photographic evidence of the canals. His successor, Dr. E. C. Slipher, had better success in later years with observations from South Africa, when camera equipment had improved considerably. The Martian canals are seen on plates VI and XLVII in the book, The Photographic Story of Mars, by E. C. Slipher. The edition I obtained was published by Northland Press, Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1962.

The quality of photographs can always be debated by the establishment scientist who denies everything he has not seen for himself. In reality, the eye is superior in viewing telescopic images in detail, compared to the photographic results when taking telescopic pictures of a planet 35 million miles distant.

Dr. Slipher stated in 1962,

"The history of the canal problem shows that every skilled observer who goes to the best available site for his observations has had no great difficulty of seeing and convincing himself of the reality of the canals. I am not aware of a single exception to this."

A fellow astronomer, Dr. Pettit, confirmed this visual documentation, by reporting in 1953 that,

"there are moments when the whole canal pattern can be seen on Mars."

Today's literature never fails to mention that the early Mariner probes during the 1960's proved that the canals are non-existent, and that the controversy over the Schiaparelli and Lowell evidence has been laid to rest. It is true that no actual evidence of canals was released by NASA, but it should be realized, that if the picture-taking cameras on those early probes did photograph certain areas showing canals with sufficient clarity, the evidence would not have been released anyway.

The fact is, that until Mariner 9, only a very small and unrepresentative fraction of the Martian surface was photographed, and most of that, very poorly. Mariners 4, 6, and 7 never even found the huge 2300-mile-long Valles Marineus canyon on Mars, which is a natural formation. The fuzzy black and white photos that were released to the public lacked any clarity whatsoever.

We can get better telescopic photographs of the Moon 240,000 miles away, than those camera pictures taken only a few thousand miles from Mars. An important point to realize is that the probes carried cameras, not telescopes. Even NASA admitted that the cameras aboard the Mariners could not have provided evidence of a Martian civilization from their photographic distance. However, the publicly-released photos were quickly interpreted as disproving the canal controversy.

What are space photographs in reality?

The "picture" is relayed back to Earth in the form of numerous dots, contained within a radio signal. The picture has to be reconstructed from this electronic message, by computer imaging each dot into a shade of gray. The first image processing is considered the raw picture, and is basically a washed-out, blurry gradation of gray. Then the imaging team can reassign the gray levels by computer, in order to better distinguish any identifiable spots or features on the raw picture. A slightly improved image is given to the public.

American astronauts have said that the only visible man-made construction on Earth that they could see from their high orbit around our planet was the Great Wall of China. If there were a Great Wall on Mars and it turned up on one of the photographs, the space agency could still release the picture, but without the slightest trace of a wall. With computer imaging, it is easy to fade out features and erase contrast, to the point of an unidentifiable gray blotch.

By starting with the original raw, washed-out picture, it is only a matter of re-assigning the gray levels so that the wall never appears during processing. On the other hand, if another photograph shows a natural landmark or feature, that picture can be electronically sharpened and focused to show great detail. We have reached a new state of the art: we can increase or decrease picture quality by subtle electronic brushing.

Now to clarify the situation regarding the canal evidence first discovered by Schiaparelli and Lowell through their telescopic studies. It was only "laid to rest" because authorities withheld official confirmation. Mariner 4 did photograph some straight-line canals, and this was finally admitted some time later by Dr. William Pickering, the head of Jet Propulsion Laboratory.² (JPL conducts all the planetary projects for NASA.)

Dr. Clyde Tombaugh, the scientist who discovered Pluto, also confirmed that the canals were photographed by the 1965 probe. But officially, this type of evidence has never been released. The public was shown computer-enhanced photographs, but the detailed originals were in the hands of the authorities. And if the canals were filmed by that first probe, it is a certainty that they were filmed by later Mariner and Viking probes, yet that information has always been withheld. We'll discuss the censoring aspect relative to the later space missions thoroughly, but first let's continue with the telescopic record.

Early in this century, expert astronomers recorded several anomalies during their observations of Mars. On one occasion, a long series of blinking lights lasting seventy minutes was observed, leading one observatory director to describe the incident as "absolutely inexplicable."3

In 1937 and again in 1949, Japanese experts witnessed a brilliant glow on the surface of Mars, that was as bright as a 6th magnitude star. To be visible from the Earth, these "flares" had to be tremendous. Any type of volcanic activity couldn't possibly be seen from our distance, and so the cause of the brightness remained a mystery. Other strange lights were seen on different occasions.

There was a cloud-like object observed and photographed in 1954, that was in the perfect shape of a W, or an M if we consider that a telescope inverts an image. It was 1100 miles across and remained in a fixed position above the planet for more than a month. (Natural atmospheric clouds will change shape and dissipate within a few days.) At the three intersections of the W, were intense bright spots, or "knobs." Speculation was running high, even at the Carnegie Institution at Washington. It was such a rigid and unusual shape, that there was a strong suggestion of artificial origin.

Throughout the 1920s and 30s, recurring radio signals were picked up coming from the direction of Mars. The spacing and pattern of the radio waves ruled out the possibility that these cryptic signals were random radio noise or electrical disturbances in space, because there was an intelligent coding system to these radio waves. That much was certain, even though they remained indecipherable on our end. Even the famous scientist Marconi, the man who invented the "wireless," picked up these inter-planetary radio waves with his advanced experimental equipment in 1921, and later stated that he believed he had intercepted messages from Mars. He emphasized that the transmission wavelength of the coded signals was 150 kilometers, whereas the maximum wavelength used by our transmit-ting stations at the time was about 14 kilometers.4

Many others had come to the same conclusion over the next few years when intercepting these signals, especially when Mars was in orbital proximity to Earth. And speaking to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1931, the late Bishop Barnes stated his belief that many other inhabited worlds exist, and that many must certainly be able to prop-agate interplanetary radio communication.

It was such messages that were being picked up now, he said. And when these interplanetary signals were recognized and acknowledged by our Earth, it would be the dawn of a new era of humanity.

But at this beginning, he added, there would be opposition between those who welcome the new knowledge and those who deem it dangerous for that information to be known and accepted. And is this not what happened two decades later, when UFOs demonstrated the very existence of life on other worlds? Was it not the beginning of an era of opposition between those who were open and accepting of the new knowledge about space, and those who worked to prevent the truth from coming out?

Along with the later observations of mysterious clouds and lights, the cryptic radio signals led some independent astronomers to conclude that we were being given rudimentary signals from Mars to challenge our thinking about life beyond the Earth. Regarding habitability, there was even more scientific certainty in other telescopic studies.

As early as 1926, photographs were taken in ultraviolet light that clearly showed a substantial atmosphere on Mars. Compared with infrared photographs taken at the same time, the pictures proved that there is a dense atmosphere, possibly 40 miles in depth. There are undoubtedly more rarefied layers above this altitude, much like the upper, tenuous atmosphere around the Earth, that would be too thin to be recorded by photography. It has been suggested that the top of the Martian atmosphere might reach 400 miles, by the British scientist-writer Earl Nelson, author of There Is Life on Mars (1956).

The early photographs showing the Martian atmosphere were taken by G. E. Hale of the Mount Palomar Observatory [Southern California] and are reproduced in Nelson's book. There are two immediate and important conclusions that can be drawn from these observations. The surface gravity on Mars must be substantially higher than has been taught, for a low gravity would not be sufficient to retain such a sizable atmosphere. Secondly, with such a dense atmosphere, the sun's energy would interact much differently than orthodox theories suggested, and the temperatures on Mars would be considerably warmer, more moderate, and more Earth-like.

Although the length of the Martian year is nearly double our 365-day year, the seasons on Mars vary and alternate just like on Earth. When the northern hemisphere is in its summer cycle, the southern hemisphere has its winter. The length of the Martian day is 24 hours and 37 minutes, and the inclination of its axis is 25 degrees, which is very close to Earth's 23 degrees.

Both the northern and southern polar caps extend nearly half way to the Martian equator during their respective winters. With the onset of spring in either hemisphere, its ice cap recedes and a wave of darkening over broad areas spreads slowly towards the equator. This cyclic surface darkening was widely considered to be seasonal vegetation growth as water was liberated from the polar caps. Each polar cap will shrink considerably during its respective summer cycle. Sometimes the southern polar cap melts completely.

The broad areas near the equator, such as Mare Serpentis, Mare Sirenium, and Syrtis Major, change from their winter shade of brown, to light green and then to dark green. This latter stage has often been described as a dark blue-green. Astronomers also noted that as the seasons changed to autumn, the colors would gradually turn to yellow and gold, finally returning to brown in winter. (The surface color of Mars is not dark red, as I will prove later.)

The parade of colorful seasons was interpreted by open-minded astronomers as the seasonal growth and ripening of vegetation. Cyclic growth coincided regularly with the natural climatic changes on the plan-et, just as we have here on Earth. I am not discussing the canals and their irrigation for crop growing, at the moment. These seasonal changes showing cyclic plant life would be taking place even if man were not there on Mars.

The presence of vegetation on Mars was held to be a certainty in some quarters, but hotly debated by others. But the way to end all argument was to prove the existence of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and the water in the Martian environment, which would indicate that photosynthesis (the life process) of plants was in fact taking place. Carbon dioxide was there in abundance—even conservative scientists agreed on that, for it was commonly speculated that the atmosphere's chief constituent was carbon dioxide.

Oxygen seemed likely, though it could not be detected in the atmosphere from earth-based studies. The evidence for oxygen was indicated by some regional soil colors, which indicated that certain areas contained a large amount of ferrous oxide, or limonite. We have some tropical regions on Earth where the soil is reddish-brown limonite, and two things are necessary for its formation: abundant oxygen and extreme humidity in the air. Apparently, oxygen was in the atmosphere of Mars, as the natural product of plant photosynthesis.

To briefly explain photosynthesis, it is the biological process by which green plants containing chlorophyll use the energy of sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water. Six molecules of water and six molecules of carbon dioxide are transformed with the aid of solar energy into one molecule of glucose and six molecules of oxygen.

The oxygen is then liberated into the atmosphere. We breathe in the oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, which in turn the green plants use in photo-synthesis, and oxygen is returned to the atmosphere. This is Nature's perfect cycle. If all the green plants were suddenly removed from the Earth, all human and animal life would die, because the oxygen we breathe would not be replenished.

The last thing that needed to be confirmed in order to prove the seasonal vegetation on Mars, was the existence of water.

For this evidence it is easiest to jump ahead for a moment to the U.S. Viking project of 1976. The Viking I orbiter photographed extensive ground fog, mists, and cloud rover in the northern hemisphere, and from readings taken by sensitive instruments on the orbiting probe, it was proven once and for all, that the polar caps were frozen water.5 If the polar caps were completely melted, it was estimated that the water produced would cover the entire planet to a depth of about 20 feet.

Along with the early ultraviolet photographs showing a substantial atmosphere, it has been shown that the environmental constituents for life exists on Mars. The three basic parameters are carbon dioxide, water, and oxygen—the ferrous oxide soil being the indirect evidence for oxygen. It is necessary to point to the indirect evidence for oxygen, since NASA refuses to confirm the presence of oxygen in the Martian atmosphere. That is the single remaining ace in their hand.

And they keep it, because they know that only the process of photosynthesis by living plants can account for the presence of oxygen in any planet's atmosphere. During the Viking mission, NASA admitted finding nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, and water vapor, although they kept the relative percentages and overall density out of proportion to the true conditions. But NASA is holding out on the oxygen and will not admit finding it with the Viking probes, because atmospheric oxygen would be recognized by scientists as positive proof that life exists on Mars. But the remaining evidence to be discussed will prove the case.

Before the space agency came into existence on October 1, 1958, scientific astronomers at the large observatories were still the experts and authorities on the planets. It seems as though it was preordained in the heavens that the independent thinkers would have one last chance to probe the mystery of our neighboring planet, as Mars swung by in favorable opposition in 1954 and 1956. In its first approach, Mars came within a distance of 39,800,000 miles. The second time, in 1956, the planet was only 35,120,000 miles away. It would not be that close again until 1971, when planetary exploration and pronouncements were in the hands of NASA.

But in 1954 the excitement ran high in astronomical circles, because an international Mars Committee had been formed, to plan an around the world "Mars patrol." Prominent scientists from seventeen countries would be coordinating telescopic studies from the world's largest observatories, as Mars made its closest approach in July. Some of the countries involved included the United States, France, Italy, Turkey, India, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Java, Egypt, and Argentina.6

The international team of scientists was headed by the world's greatest Mars expert, Dr. E. C. Slipher, then the Director of the Lowell Observatory [Flagstaff, Arizona]. He and most of the committee members were well aware of all the previous astronomical records—the mysterious clouds, flares, markings, radio signals, and the evidence for canals and vegetation.

Some privately believed that there was an intelligent civilization on Mars, for in 1938, it had been announced that the Lowell Observatory found evidence of changes in the canal system, and the changes appeared to have been altered by design. This 1954 Mars "expedition" was primarily planned to settle the question. It is quite possible that some members linked the numerous flying saucer sightings that had been widely reported since 1947, to the renewed and intense interest in Mars.

Because the government was heavily guarding the UFO evidence, the National Security Agency made it a top priority to use its influence to keep check on the developments of the Mars patrol study. It was imperative that planetary speculations and press statements be kept in a totally ambiguous light. The censors were especially concerned about the Mars patrol because of the caliber of open-minded men who were involved with the project. They included Dr. Seymour Hess, a meteorology expert who was on record as having sighted a UFO; Dr. Harold C. Urey, a prominent astrophysicist who was genuinely curious about life on other planets; and Dr. Slipher, who was following in the footsteps of the pioneer Percival Lowell.

Dr. Slipher assigned himself to make observations from the best location possible—the Lamont Hussey Observatory in South Africa. It had the largest refracting telescope in the southern hemisphere, and Mars would be passing directly overhead each night during opposition. And before the project got underway, Slipher publicly stated that if he found proof of life on Mars, he would announce it to the world.

The Mars Expedition took 20,000 photographs and confirmed the presence of both the canals and vegetation. The canals did not meander at all like a river would; they followed great-circle courses, which are the shortest distance between two points on a globe. Many planetary astronomers had speculated previously, that if photographs showed that the canals were along great circle paths, it could be concluded that they were the work of intelligent beings.

The scientists were getting exceptional pictures also, because the Lowell Observatory was using a new electronic camera that could amplify faint markings, and photograph in one-tenth of a second to prevent atmospheric turbulence from blurring the details. One canal was found to run straight as an arrow for 1,500 miles, something that no natural water channel could do.

Dr. Slipher brought enough photographs back from South Africa to prove that the canals were real, and man-made. While providing abundant vegetation growth alongside their straight-line courses, the canals also proved to be the common link between the green oases. An intricate pumping system seemed to be the only explanation when considering the distances involved. More than 40 canals and 15 oases were photographed in the first week.7 But the Mars Committee reports never became public, and they were therefore unknown outside a very limited part of the astronomy community. The new findings were privately logged at the observatories, and sparing details were barely covered in only a few astronomical journals. But everything was kept out of the newspapers.

The government's intelligence agency had succeeded in blocking the Committee's early plans for public reports and press conferences. Then they firmly executed their plans for a blackout of real information about Mars. The government keeps itself in control by keeping a world-wide opinion in control, especially with regard to sensitive and dramatic issues. Allowing an announcement by an international team of scientists suggesting that Mars was inhabited, would be tantamount to the government confirming that UFOs are visiting our planet. So the censors knew what they had to do.

Pressure was put on those who headed the project to furnish no reports to the public press. Though the astronomers studied Mars for five months, only one little statement was given to the public at the beginning. Dr. Slipher had announced that some new and interesting changes were observed on Mars with their photographic study. Following that report, there was only silence.

All plans for further publicity were blocked, and no worthy Mars Patrol bulletins were ever released.8 The excuses given out were in the category of,

"difficulties in communication and coordination, disagreement as to what had been seen and photographed, months of studies and review were necessary to properly analyze, and so on."

How can any silencing agency of the government achieve such suppression of this, or any other, kind of dramatic information? It is difficult to determine for each case just what methods are employed, but their forceful persuasion does escalate until the cooperation is achieved. Presumably, they start out with the position that such information is related to the national security, and that the government is the entrusted agency to best handle the social implications of confirmed announcements.

They imply that the public isn't quite ready for this information, that the world isn't ready for this information. That the economy isn't prepared for this type of information. They fear that there would be an upheaval in thinking (although I am certain that it would be an "upliftment" in thinking, and this is the real problem that threatens the censors).

They will say that the public might panic, or they could offer the excuse that there might be an attack from Mars. The possibilities for persuasive argument are endless, but the only end requirement is that planetary evidence be shown as inconclusive, vague, and debatable. It has always been maintained officially, that known life does not exist beyond the Earth, unless possibly it is light years away from us in another part of the galaxy. In which case, the distance is so great that our civilizations will never meet.

After being persuaded to withhold the significant findings, including the discovery of the great-circle paths of the canals, the Mars Committee only issued a simple press release. Dr. Slipher made a statement to the effect that Mars is alive. That certainly satisfied the censors' insistence in keeping things nebulous. (Alive—how? Geologically with volcanoes, dust storms, and polar cap shrinkage? Or alive in the sense of intelligent constructions?)

He noted that there were color changes in the Martian geography that were more interesting than in his previous observations over the years. But the tiny report was essentially meaningless, and obviously did not affect public or scientific opinion. The question of Mars might have still been left open, but the orthodox theories of inability were not threatened in the least.

It was not until eight years afterwards that notable documentation of the 1954 Mars observations was published, in a book titled The Photographic Story of Mars. Recently, I obtained a copy of this book, and it appears that the publication had a relatively small printing, and was mainly published to be a reference type of book for science libraries.

Certainly, few in the public would have been inclined to buy such a costly book, and take it on their own to study an involved scientific text. Yet the answers are there if one wishes to read through complex analyses and carefully worded discussions. The book was written by Dr. Slipher in 1962, and the full text is based on fifty years of telescopic studies, and thousands of photographic images taken at the world's largest observatories. The conclusions also referenced the last major finding by astronomy regarding the Martian environment.

During the November 1958 opposition, Dr. William Sinton conducted studies at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The scientist-astronomer performed careful infrared scans of the bright desert areas and the dark green oases, and found that the sun's energy was absorbed in certain wavelengths over the dark areas, but not over the desert regions.

The absorption wavelengths were at 3.43, 3.56, and 3.67 microns*, and these are exactly the same wavelengths absorbed by hydrocarbon compounds. His study proved that there is green plant life on the broad oases of Mars, and that it is organically composed of carbon-hydrogen compounds, the same as our own terrestrial vegetation. In other words, his scientific evidence showed that Martian plant life is based on the same carbon cycle as we find on Earth.

* A micron is equivalent to one millionth of a meter.

But new experimental evidence is never accepted that quickly. It is al-ways challenged, and subject to much debate, because old established theories are very hard to change. The old theories had predicted that there was no appreciable water or atmosphere on Mars, and that the surface tempera-lures were too extreme for vegetation life. (The canal evidence also, carried too many implications to be considered acceptable, and was rejected outright as incompatible with respected establishment theories.)

Dr. Sinton's experiments with infrared scans were viewed as inconclusive, and any such results would have to be confirmed over and over before conservative science would budge. The scientific community much rather preferred to wait until future space probes settled the questions about Mars. The scientific arguments lingered in limbo, until the government formed a space age bureaucracy, called NASA, that could preempt all discussions on matters of space. The days of independent astronomy speculating on planetary conditions were soon over. While representing the government in its authoritative role, NASA's position was unassailable—almost.

Initially, NASA had three functions:

1. To launch artificial satellites into orbit around the Earth.

2. To put men into space.

3. To explore the other planetary members of our solar system, including the Moon, with remotely controlled space probes.

The first two they did admirably well, and mankind was on the threshold of becoming a space civilization. But with the third, NASA did not advance our knowledge towards an age of enlightenment. In fact, there is a bitter irony to our space age developments, in that our authorities led thinking back to the Dark Ages, through distortion and suppression of actual space findings.

Long ago, Earth was isolated from the rest of the system, through its ignorance and superstitious thinking. By the twentieth century, man's intelligence had progressed to where he could rationally understand and accept that advanced civilizations do travel space and have home planets similar to our Earth. Space visitors traveling in ships which we have termed UFOs were making their existence known at the same time we were reaching technological crossroads in science.

But the men of war and all their institutions denied it, and the censors would not allow the confirmation of life beyond the Earth, whether in spaceships or on planets. The doors were kept shut by the silence group and vested interests opposed to the truth, and NASA then turned out the lights. NASA made out space to be an uninteresting wasteland, devoid of life or recognizable purpose. The end result was that mankind on Earth reverted back to an extreme thinking of self-importance, alone in his own egotistical sphere of a world.

Had our authorities left a few questions open for balanced speculations, it would be easier to be less critical. But instead, they determinedly set out to present a completely negative picture of the planet. A living environment was totally negated without qualification, in order to complement the suppression of UFO evidence. It was apparent that our planetary probing was not conducted with any objectivity, right from the start.

Being a government bureaucracy, NASA had no choice but to serve the hands of the most powerful economic interests of our present-day world. NASA censors cooperated with the corporate interests that demanded the continual cover-up and suppression regarding UFOs and their origins, and there-fore publicly presented an unrealistic picture of the planets.

The first official flyby of Mars was achieved by Mariner 4 in July 1965. The probe radioed back twenty-two pictures of the Martian surface, and NASA initially claimed that there were no canals. Lifetimes of telescopic studies were casually obliterated with that one statement. A radar occupation reading provided a basis for NASA to declare that the atmosphere density on Mars was less than one percent of Earth's, and another type of signal allowed experts to suggest that the planet had no magnetosphere. At its closest distance, Mariner 4 was 6,000 miles from the planet, yet NASA spokesmen claimed readings showing that the average surface temperature on Mars was 170°F.

The censors may have had a tough time back in the Mars Patrol days curbing speculation, but this was a brand new ballgame. NASA was the perfect vehicle to paint a lifeless picture beyond the Earth. Who could possibly challenge statements coming from the U.S. space program? Telescopes or not. UFOs or not. Anybody who still wanted to claim intelligent life existed on Mars would be considered a lunatic.

The Mariner 4 flyby did not have the capability to realistically confirm habitability. That much can be conceded. But likewise, the space probe could not realistically confirm those alleged planetary conditions that were put out as flat statements by the authorities, either. With future planetary probes, it became apparent how the censorship was orchestrated, and by whom.

The real problem, however, is not with NASA specifically. The space agency had practically no choice but to follow the dictates of the powerful economic interests that control governments and their subordinate agencies. It is these international cartels that have been behind all censorship regarding planetary space.

NASA has only been the publicly-identifiable distorter, regarding space pronouncements.

So NASA can be partly excused for not being in a position to objectively conduct space probe explorations. But false values can never be changed by anything but the truth. And we are at the critical crossroad of time.

Either we become a space civilization, or we will be a nuclear extinction.
 

REFERENCES

1. 1. Max Miller. Flying Saucers—Fact or Fiction? (Trend Books, 1957), p. 54.

2. Donald Keyhoe, Aliens From Space (New York: Doubleday, 1973), p. 171.

3. Maz Miller, Flying Saucers—Fact or Fiction? (Trend Books, 1957), p. 54.

4. Ibid. p. 43.

5. David Chandler, Life on Mars (New York: Dutton, 1979), p. 61.

6. Donald Keyhoe, The Flying Saucer Conspiracy (New York: Holt, 1955), p. 122.

7. Ibid. p. 209.

8. Ibid. pp. 209-211.

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