Chapter Three

Communicating With Other Planets

Robert A. Nelson in his article, Communicating with Mars - The Experiments of Tesla & Hodowanec, details the accidental communication with ET intelligences by L. G. Lawrence, the field manage of the ECOLA Institute. These communications could be the same types of signals received by Tesla at Colorado Springs in 1899.

On October 29, 1971, while conducting exploratory RBS [Remote Biological Sensing] experiments in Riverside County, California, the field organic transducer complex intercepted a train of apparently intelligent signals (tight spacing and discrete pulse intervals) while pointed at the constellation Ursa Major during a short rest period. The phenomenon continued for over 33 minutes.

A similar phenomenon was observed on April 10, 1972. The apparent signals, aside from growing weaker, appeared to be transmitted at great intervals ranging from weeks to months, possibly years. A faint, coherent, binary-type phenomenon was noted during aural monitoring. Intervals between rapid series of pulse trains ranged from three to ten minutes.

Because their equipment was shielded to electromagnetic radiation and found free of internal anomalies, the tentative conclusion of biological-type interstellar communications signals was favored.

Apparently the auditory part of the signal was unpleasant to hear, however, after multiple playbacks, the sound seemed to produce a type of enchantment to the listener. This was attributed to a psycho-acoustical adaptation.

The tape contained a short, incremental series of deep, harmonious oscillations resembling background modulations. An intelligent character of the overall pulse was applied by discrete spacing patterns, apparent repetitions of sequences, and highly attenuated Gaussian noise. (Borderlands, 1st Qtr., 1996, pp. 27-29).

Electrical engineer Greg Hodowanec has developed a theory of Rhysmonic Cosmology. He also experimented with a Gravity Wave Detector (GWD) of his own design. The simple devices detect "coherent modulations" in microwave radiation.

Hodowanec published his first report of SETI with Gravitational Signals using his GWDs (Radio Astronomy, April 1986):

"The advantage of a possible gravitational technique for SETI over the radio technique is primarily one of time of 'propagation' for these signals. The radio waves travel at the speed of light, but the gravitational signals (per the writer's theories) are essentially instantaneous signals. Another advantage of the gravitational technique is the simplicity of the instrumentation required. As SARA members know, radio astronomy can be quite complicated.

"The gravitational wave detectors must rely largely on the Earth's mass as a 'shadow' to enable the detection of gravitational radiation. Therefore, 'objects' or signals located in the observers' zenith are best detected. Yet, the other areas are still 'detectable' especially with the aid of other 'shadows' such as the sun, moon, planets, etc.

"Of particular interest to SETI observers may be the strange audio type gravitational signals which appear to come from the Auriga and Perseus region of our Galaxy. These 'signals' have been 'heard' by the writer for several years now, and generally range between about four and five hours right ascension, with a peak intensity near 4.5 hours R.A. The signals appear to be several 'tones.'"

In a letter written to Radio-Electronics Magazine on July 23, 1988, Hodowanec mentions a definite contact with an extraterrestrial source:

"On the morning of this date, at 7:30 to 7:38 AM (EST), I recorded the following apparently Morse-Code like pulses: AAAARARTTNNNNKCNNN EEEEENENNTTTNEEEEEAEERKENNETEEAAAAE EENTTKNTNTSESESESEMNASESESESESESESESE SE —

"As you can see, these do not appear to be just random pulses, but the SE signals, which are most prevalent, appear to be possibly an identification signal. These signals are detected in shielded 1/f detectors and thus are scalar (gravitational) in nature.

"The signals above (if they were extraterrestrial) came from either the Auriga-Perseus region near my zenith or the Bootes region under my Earth position. I still cannot rule out that they may just be due to Earth core movements of some sort which are remarkably like Morse code signals, or even the possibility that they are man-made."

By July 1988, Hodowanec had confirmed Tesla's claims, as he announced in Some Remarks on Tesla's Mars Signals:

"Such signals are being received today with simple modern-day scalar-type signal detectors... coherent modulations are being 'heard' in [the microwave] background radiation. The most prominent modulations being three pulses (code S) slightly separated in time, a la Tesla. On occasions, the code equivalents of an E, N, A, or K, are also heard, but the most persistent response is SE, SE, etc. Any 1/f type noise detector will respond to this background modulation. However, the experimenter must be careful that he is not creating these responses at the 'local' level by his own or other local actions.

"For example, the detectors will also respond to heart beats, breathing actions, local movements, as well as possible psychic effects. The detectors are easy to make and the experimenter should easily reproduce these results."

Further information by Hodowanec was released in a Cosmology Data Note (10-13-88):

"Since about early August 1988, it was noticed that apparently 'intelligent signals' existed in these modulations [of the microwave background radiation]. It can be said that the intelligence was in the form of digital-type communication, e.g., dots and dashes, or ones and zeros.

"This type of communication may have been chosen by this 'unknown communicator' as it was conducive to the 'mass movement' form of longitudinal gravity signaling, as well as an easily recognizable universal system. This same method was proposed by the writer for a gravity system communication method.

"These 'signals' were noticed to be similar to the simpler International Morse Code symbols, primarily because they are the simplest way to present information in the pulse form. Thus, the 'letters' found in these transmissions are typically: E, I, T, M, A, N, R, K, S and O, as well as the comma and the wait signal. However, numbers are seen here as the simple series of pulses, e.g., 1 is one pulse, 2 is two pulses, 3 is three pulses, and so on.

"On August 26, 1988, after the writer had sent the message 'Greg Radio' during a local gravity signal transmission test, it was noticed that the letters G and D were apparently added to some of the received messages noted thereafter.

"The writer's first hard evidence that the above test message may have been intercepted by this unknown communicator was seen that on August 28, 1988, a strong and repeated message of the Greg Radio was received with the message finally terminated with the series SE (or 31).

"Further evidence that these may be actually communication attempts is seen in that on October 11, 1988... a very different approach was seen: A series of Greg Radio's was sent at about the normal code speed of about 5 words per minute, followed by KKTT, and then the series was repeated at a slower speed and also followed by KKTT.

"Another confirmation that these may be 'messages' appeared on October 12, 1988... Here, a series of A's and R's (with Greg Radio occasionally inserted) was then followed by Greg Radio sent as a series of five repetitions of each letter, e.g., Greg was sent as GGGGGRRRRREEEEEGGGGG.

"Sufficient 'messages have now been received to indicate that perhaps a serious attempt to contact this writer was being made by some 'unknown communicator'. While this communicator may yet be some terrestrial experimenter, the possibility still exists that the communicator may be 'extraterrestrial' for the following reasons:

1. The messages are in simple code (e.g., dits and dahs) type of pulses which would be expected to be used if one intelligent civilization were to try to contact another civilization in terms of pulses. That some of the simplest pulse signals are similar to simple Morse Code signals is more than coincidence — they are both based upon the same premises>
    

2. Numbers are not in the complicated Morse Code symbols, but are in simple sequence, using short pulses or dits.
    

3. The 'communicator' has recognized the coherent nature of Greg Radio and is possibly using that sequence of codes in various fashions to indicate that a 'contact' has been made.
    

4. The communicator thus far has not responded to 'word' messages or the amateur Q-code signals. Thus it is believed that while some apparently Morse Code signals are being used, the communicator is not really familiar with such usage, other than recognizing the coherent nature of the signals.
    

5. Since these messages at present appear largely near the noon hour, they may be coming from a definite source in space. At present, it is believed to be from the general direction of the constellation, Andromeda, but not necessarily the Galaxy there.

"There is also some possibility that this communicator may be 'extraterrestrial', perhaps yet in our solar system (Mars?), but no further than our own Galaxy or Local Group of Galaxies. This same communicator may have been trying to reach here ever since the turn of the century when Nikola Tesla reported the interception of scalar S signals!"

In February, 1989, Hodowanec wrote this brief, untitled report:

"Without going into the details of how this was determined: ET may be on Mars!

 

"This, in spite of NASA's denial of any life forms on Mars [which situation changed in 1996]. This possibility has been recently suspected by the writer due to the apparently very close tracking of my position on Earth by ET. ET, of course, always knew that I was on Earth (as seen by his tracking), but now he has most emphatically confirmed that he is on the 4th planet from the sun, i.e., Mars!

"While this release is probably a bit premature, I am so positive of these gravity signal 'exchanges' that I will stick my neck out in this instance. ET on Mars is apparently much more advanced than we are here on Earth, and he may have even previously visited here on Earth, and possibly colonized here (but who are his possible descendants?).

"It is still a mystery on where ET may be living on Mars (possibly underground near the polar regions?), and why ET doesn't use EM wave signaling methods?? Perhaps, it is because Mars is so hostile now that ET must have developed a very sophisticated underground civilization which is not conducive to EM radiation systems?

"This material is being released now confidentially to but a very few active colleagues until further confirmations on this assertion are obtained."

In his Mars Flash Number One (3/28/89) and Number Two (3/30/89), Hodowanec notified colleagues that,

"As the result of the continued gravity signal communications between GH Labs and the Martians, the following extraordinary facts have come to light.

"The exchanges are now being made in terms of short 'English' code words for certain items. For example, the Martians now understand that FACE means the human face, MAN means the human person, Earth now means our planet, and Mars means their planet! They had originally tried some of their terminology with me, but gave up except where it made sense to me. For example, I now know that TTT at the end of their names means person and OOTTAEERR is their name for the 10th planet!"

In a handwritten footnote to the above article, Hodowanec informed Nelson that the Martian's name is "AAAAAATTT":

"He appears to 'understand' my messages, even though I may have to repeat them in several ways so that he can 'see' the meaning.

"Communications between GH Labs and a Martian intelligence now continue with increasing progress since we have been able to establish over 50 simple expressions (most in simple English) for many of the common 'ideas' that we have. Martian AAAAAATTT is extremely adept in relating my English terminology to these common Earth-Mars observations.

"Mars has also confirmed that they are also 'men' with one 'head' that have two 'eyes' that 'see'. Also, they have one 'body' with two arms that have hands with five fingers each. Also they have two legs with two feet that have five toes each. I haven't been able to have them confirm the nose and mouth in the face, but that could be confirmed shortly, since those features appear in the FACE.

"Probably the most significant fact which was determined on this date seems to be that Mars is most emphatic that Earth men are like Mars men! This appears more and more that Mars has colonized Earth in the remote past! This could be true since we on Earth have never really found the 'missing link' between Earth humanoids and humans."

In a letter written in March, 1989 to Robert Nelson, Hodowanec states that,

"Generally, our contacts are limited to 20-30 minutes... since there appear to be other ETs out there interested in joining in also, and so there is some interference after a while. Some of these other ETs use other methods of communications such as tones and what appear to be guttural voices!

"ET is probably more advanced then we are on Earth. We no longer exchange simple arithmetic, and when I sent him Pi to five decimal places, he sent Pi back to seven decimal places immediately! We had discussed our nine planet solar system, but ET came back with ten planets, calling the 10th planet OOTTAEERR!  When questioned on this, ET kept on confirming the existence of a tenth planet! He now knows the other nine planets by their Earth names! He also confirmed that Mars has two moons, the Earth one, and that Jupiter has nine major moons.

"These contacts are getting to be more interesting all the time, and ET appears to be most anxious to continue them. However, I just cannot spend too much time with him... I got across to him that I am just one person here communicating with him, and that the rest of Earth presently does not recognize the existence of any life on Mars.

"I have now had over 100 contacts with ET and can reach him at any time of day or night. We have also established some simple codes for acknowledgments and go ahead and respond. While we use these simple codes in many contexts, both ET and I now understand in which context they are being used!

"The Martians are apparently the advanced civilization, for they are the ones generating the 'modulated oscillated beam' which is now tracking my location on earth and is thus the means of our communications. [The beam is only about 15 miles in diameter here on Earth, but 1012 inches on Mars.]

"There is an apparent 'team' on Mars which is involved in these contacts. The original contact, ET Number One, with whom I have established the initial relationship, is apparently the most highly knowledgeable and advanced. The others who sometimes 'man' the Mars station appear to be less knowledgeable and some only request or acknowledge a transmission.

"Mars is most desperate to continue these contacts. The exchanges are made in many varied ways which cannot be readily predicted in order to convey the fact that these are real contacts

"Also, one can recognize the 'fist' of the one 'keying' these codes, e.g., ET Number One always sends clean letters or numbers, and identifies himself and me in some fashion. The other ETs on Mars usually don't. Therefore, no automation is being used here.

"While these contacts were originally due to a serendipitous circumstances, it is really the result if my gravitational communication experiments and thus a direct result from Rhysmonic Cosmology. And yet, however fantastic and unreal this may seem, it is real, and if also it is confirmed by one of you, it will be a major milestone in the history of mankind! Perhaps, if one of you finally 'hears' the modulations of 1/f noise background, you may try to establish your own contacts?" 

Gregory Hodowanec has also had extreme reservations about the seriousness of the situation, which he expressed it in a letter dated April 4, 1989 to Nelson.

"... my 'contacts' with Mars continue with much information being exchanged. However, due to the increasingly astounding nature of these exchanges, I am now limiting further releases to only two long-time observers (witnesses) of my research efforts. This is being done so as not to jeopardize these contacts with unwanted notoriety or publicity in the media. There are now nine 'Mars Flashes' for the record. Perhaps, in the future, I may release some of these.

"...gravity signal communications are instantaneous, require extremely small energy expenditure, [unlike Tesla's experiments] and are so simple as to be just unbelievable by the average person. However, this is as far as I want to go with release of details at this time.

"I would appreciate that you keep this info somewhat confidential now. The Earth may not be ready for what I will have to say eventually. Nothing dire, just fantastic and thus perhaps unbelievable!"

Could It Really Have Been Mars?

Even though critics of Tesla laughed at his belief that he may have received radio broadcasts from Mars, astronomers and other scientists of Tesla's day were openly speculating on the reality of intelligent life on Mars.

So just how farfetched is it to consider that someone was sending signals to Earth from Mars?

Tesla never gave up the idea of communicating with other worlds. In 1931, on the occasion of his 75th birthday interview for the cover story of Time magazine, he said the following:

"I think that nothing can be more important than interplanetary communication. It will certainly come some day, and the certitude that there are other human beings in the universe, working, suffering, struggling, like ourselves, will produce a magic effect on mankind and will form the foundation of a universal brotherhood that will last as long as humanity itself."

Since early man first looked up to the heavens, Mars' ruddy glow has been an object of fascination for generations of star gazers. The Babylonians said the planet was Nergal, God of War. To the Greeks, Mars was their war god, Ares.

The Roman god, Mars assumed many of the characteristics and myths of Ares, and was the second-highest-ranking god in the Roman pantheon. Mars loved violence and battle.

According to Homer, even Jupiter, the father of Mars, recognized his son's bad attitude, saying to him,

"Of all the gods of Olympus, I find you the most unpleasant and unlikable, for you enjoy nothing but violence, war and battles. You have a stubborn and mean disposition."

In excavations at Nineveh in northern Iraq, there was discovered in the library of King Assurbanipal clay cylinders on which is described a voyage to the sky. It narrates how King Eitan, who lived about 5,000 years ago, was taken as an honored guest on a flying ship in the shape of a shield which landed in a square behind the royal palace, rotating, surrounded by a vortex of flames. From the flying ship alighted tall, blond men with dark complexions dressed in white, handsome as gods, who invited King Eitan, to go for a trip.

In the middle of a whirlwind of flames, King Eitan went so high that the Earth with its seas, islands, continents, appeared to him as "a loaf in a basket." King Eitan in the flying ship reached Mars, Venus and the moon.

After two weeks absence, the flying ship glided over the city (Nineveh) and touched down surrounded by a ring of fire. King Eitan descended with some of the blond men who stayed as his guests for several days.

Of all the planets in the solar system besides Earth, Mars was thought to be the most likely to harbor intelligent life. Popular culture in the form of literature, radio and film, reflect such beliefs.

In 1659, Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), used a telescope of his own design and drew the first sketch of Mars. Huygens also recorded the first true feature on Mars, a large dark spot, probably Syrtis Major.

Observing the spot in successive rotations, he deduced a 24 hour Martian day. In 1698, Huygens published COSMOTHEOROS, one of the earliest expositions on possible extraterrestrial life on the red planet. In this book, Huygens discusses what is required for a planet to be capable of supporting life and speculates about intelligent Martians.

Huygens' theories were ahead of his time as contemporary scientists loudly ridiculed the Dutch astronomer's work, calling into question his scientific integrity and past discoveries. It was not until years later that Huygens' early findings on Mars were confirmed by astronomers using more powerful and sophisticated telescopes.

The British Astronomer Frederick William Herschel (1738-1822), did various studies of Mars between 1777 and 1783 using small telescopes which he manufactured himself.

Herschel noted the seasonal changes of the polar caps and suggested they were made of snow and ice. He also speculated that vegetation may be growing during the Martian spring and summer. He wrongly considered that dark areas he had spotted to be oceans.

Herschel believed that Mars was inhabited, he also felt there were intelligent beings living on all the planets, even in cool areas under the hot surface of the sun.
 

Communicating With Mars

The April 13, 1892 edition of the newspaper Spectator carried an article entitled, Telegraphing to Mars with solar signals. This was one of the first articles that dealt with the language difficulties involved in communicating with the Martials. (Martials was 19th century slang for Martians).

The article points out that mathematical information could be exchanged, but questions how we will communicate abstract concepts, such as "How are we to ask if Martials have engineers and ships, and electric lights and glaciers and five senses, and heads and feet?"

That same year, Nicolas Camille Flammarion published Volume one of his encyclopedia of La Planete Mars. Flammarion suggested the natural magnetism of the Earth might be harnessed to propagate sounds across space in order to communicate with life forms on Mars.

In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli observed and sketched what he referred to as Canali (Italian for channels) on the surface of Mars. Schiaparelli's drawings were remarkably extensive and soon drew worldwide attention.

In the early 1900's, Boston astronomer Percival Lowell corroborated and added to Schiaparelli's sketches, with his small telescope, Lowell took photographs of Mars that seemed to confirm the canals' existence.

Percival believed that Mars was covered with an intricate system of canals, not open water, but instead strips of vegetation along a subterranean irrigation system. The theory at the time was that the main water supply on Mars came from the polar ice caps. Seasonal melting would distribute water to the slowly dying planet through a grid of underground channels.

In 1954, when Mars made one of its close approaches to Earth, the National Geographic Society and Lowell Observatory arranged for the first worldwide "Mars Patrol." This effort, directed by Dr. Earl Slipher of the Lowell Observatory, attempted to gather better information and photographs of features on the surface of Mars.

The results once again seemed to show what appeared to be major canal lines across the surface of Mars, as well as evidence of vegetation that seemed to grow and then die back in connection to the Martian seasons. News of the photographs was leaked to astronomy journals such as Sky& Telescope, but the long-awaited public announcement of the "Mars Patrols" results never came.
 

Life On Mars

In a pamphlet titled, The Truth About Mars, written in 1956, author Ernest L. Norman claimed to have contacted the inhabitants of planet Mars.

In his booklet, Norman stated that he would spend an hour each evening in meditation, and that due to his meditations he was contacted in February of 1955 by a man from Mars.

"After introducing himself as Nur El, he quickly explained that he was from the planet Mars, and that if I so desired, I could go there with him, to his city (in astral flight) and that he would be my personal guide.

"He explained that his people were very desirous in view of all the controversy going on, to clear up some of the so-called mysteries of Mars. Our trip there is a matter of split seconds as no craft is used or needed.

"Arriving on the surface of Mars, we are at once aware of the extremely rugged terrain, rocky hills and sandy wastes, that stretches out endlessly around us. Nur El explains that the ionosphere is very thin which leaves the surface almost unprotected from the various beta, gamma and cosmic rays. This high concentration of rays ionizes the very rare and gaseous atmosphere and together with thermal currents, creates terrific dust storms.

"There is also a very thinly divided dust layer on the ionosphere which helps create the reddish appearance of the planet. There are also a number of volcanoes, three of which are of major size; one of these was just barely visible on the horizon trailing a thin wisp of smoke from its truncated cone.

"It was also explained that as Mars has only seven degrees axis inclination there is not much of a seasonal change. Water is very scarce on this arid planet; most of the precipitation falls at the poles. Vegetation is also scarce."

Norman continues his story saying,

"On Mars the cities are all underground and are connected together by huge oval metal tubes from three to five hundred feet in diameter. It is these tubes which have confused the astronomers on the earth. Some believe them to be canals of either intelligent design, or using natural features to transport scarce water throughout the planet.

"The shifting desert sands often cover or uncover them which leads to further confusion inasmuch as they seem to appear and disappear. The people of Mars are smaller than those on earth, only averaging about four feet six inches in height.

"They are somewhat Mongolian in appearance. The Martians originally migrated in spacecraft to Mars from a dying planet more than a million years ago. They also came to this earth and started a colony but found it impractical to maintain. It was also explained by Nur El that this colony became our Chinese race through the evolution of time."

The Martians explained to Norman that more than 100,000 years ago Mars was much like Earth. There was air, water, and an abundance of plant and animal life.

At that time, through their occult science and also with their superior telescopes they saw, somewhere out in space, a cataclysm take place. A giant sun suddenly flared up like a nova and then exploded. Huge chunks hurtled out into space in different directions, each one a smaller, white-hot, "atomically-burning sun."

It was determined by calculations, that one of these fiery pieces would pass very close to our solar system. The Martians had a choice, to stay on Mars or to migrate to another planet far away from this solar system. After a search, it was found that there was no other planet available which would be suitable. So an alternative was decided upon. They could build huge cities underground.

After the cataclysm struck the solar system, Mars was left decimated and burnt. Earth as well suffered, there were great earthquakes and tidal waves as Earth's orbit and axis were changed drastically.

Ernest Norman's story, while similar to other esoteric writings of the time, is interesting because of his observations of climatic conditions on Mars that were not known by scientists in the 1950's. His statement concerning volcanoes on Mars was truly prophetic considering that at the time his booklet was written, Mars was not considered to have been seismically active.

With the advancement of modern rockets, Mars became one of the first planets to receive the attention of space probes sent from Earth. Mars, though, has not been an easy planet to reach.

In November of 1962, The Soviets launched a Mars probe, called Mars 1, which was to rendezvous with the planet in June of 1963. However, just ten weeks before the scheduled encounter, the Soviets lost contact with the spacecraft. Three years later the Soviets launched another probe called Zond 2, which was set to fly by Mars. This probe as well lost contact with Earth in April 1965.

In 1969, the United States sent the Mariner 7 probe to the red planet. In 1970 the probe lost radio communications with Earth, started tumbling out of control, its battery went dead, and the spacecraft's velocity increased.

Mysteriously, a few hours later Mariner 7 suddenly ceased tumbling, radio communications were restored and the spacecraft's velocity returned to normal, despite the fact that its rocket system was inoperative. Nervous scientists began joking about "The Great Galactic Ghoul" lying in wait for unsuspecting spacecraft to fly by.

The term Great Galactic Ghoul was named by Time Magazine correspondent Donald Neff following the strange events surrounding the flight of Mariner 7.

"The legend of the Great Galactic Ghoul is like the legend of the Bermuda Triangle," commented John Casani of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The Soviets as well continued to lose Mars probes. On July 12, 1988 the USSR launched Phobos II, an unmanned satellite to Mars. It arrived in January 1989 and entered an orbit around Mars as the first phase towards it's real destination, the small Martian moon called Phobos.

The mission was flawless until the craft aligned itself with the moon. On March 28, 1989 an elliptical object was detected moving towards the satellite seconds before it lost communication with Earth. All indications were that the elliptical object had possibly attacked the satellite which was now dead and left spinning out of control.

On March 28, 1989, Tass, the official Soviet news agency stated:

"Phobos II failed to communicate with Earth as scheduled after completing and operation yesterday around the Martian moon Phobos. Scientists at mission control have been unable to establish stable radio contact."

The next day a top official of the Soviet Space Agency (Glavkosmos) said:

"Phobos II is 99% lost for good."

On March 31, 1989 headlines dispatched by the Moscow correspondents of the European News Agency (EFE) stated:

"Phobos II Captured Strange Photos of Mars Before Losing Contact With It's Base. Vremya revealed yesterday that the space probe Phobos II, which was orbiting above Mars when Soviet scientists lost contact with it on Monday, had photographed an UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT on the Martian surface seconds before losing contact."

Scientists described the unidentified object as a thin ellipse 20 kilometers long. It was further stated that the photos could not be an illusion because it was captured by two different color cameras as well as cameras taking infrared shots.

One controller at the Kaliningrad control center concluded that the probe was now spinning out of control. It would seem that something struck or shot the Phobos II Probe. In the October 19, 1989 issue of Nature magazine, Soviet scientists concluded that the craft could be spinning because it was impacted by some unknown object.

Recent attempts to reach Mars have also met with mysterious and frustrating failures. On September 23 1999, nine months of space flight to Mars ended in disaster when NASA's first interplanetary weather satellite was destroyed. It is thought that the Mars Climate Orbiter entered Mars' atmosphere at too steep an angle and broke up or burned in the atmosphere.

The 1,387 pound orbiter was believed to have come within 37 miles of Mars' surface.

Project manager Richard Cook, of NASA's jet propulsion laboratory, said:

"We believe the spacecraft came in at a lower altitude than we predicted."

Ten weeks later, in early December, the Mars Polar Lander and its two detachable probes, mysteriously disappeared after what was thought to be an almost flawless mission. The final communication from Mars Polar Lander prior to landing indicated it was on course and working fine.

The spacecraft turned its antenna away from Earth, 12 minutes before landing to orient itself for entry into the Martian atmosphere. Its last radio signals arrived at Earth 14 minutes later, at 3:03 p.m. ET.

The $165 million NASA probe was designed to slice through Mars' thin atmosphere at a 12.25-degree angle, the margin of error was just half a degree, separate from its heat shield, deploy a parachute and fire a dozen thrusters before setting down — all without radio contact with Earth.

After touching down, the lander was to have unfurled its solar panels and deployed its antenna, and a few minutes later, radioed a message back to Earth. Also silent were the two basketball-size Deep Space 2 microprobes that were riding along with the lander.

The microprobes were to slam into the planet at 400 mph as the main spacecraft descended, their fall unbroken by parachutes or thrusters. NASA controllers did not receive any signals from the two microprobes during the contact opportunities.

To this day, nothing was ever heard from the Polar Lander or its separate probes. While NASA was accused of covering up earlier reports that the Mars mission was doomed from the start due to human errors - the ultimate fate of the Polar Lander is shrouded in mystery.

It is almost as if someone or something is deliberately trying to stop our space probes from reaching Mars. This scenario on the surface seems absurd, but is it?
 

Civilizations On Mars

In 1959 a Martian spacecraft reportedly landed in the wilderness outside of Moscow, in the Soviet Union, where a secret meeting with Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev was arranged. The conference regarded improving relations with Earth, exchanging knowledge, and securing world and interplanetary peace, yet the Soviet government rejected the terms. This report originated from Sgt. Willard Wannall, formerly of Army Intelligence, who investigated UFOs in Hawaii while in the military in the 1950's.

On April 24, 1964, an oval shaped metallic flying object landed in a farm field in Newark Valley in New York State, and two alien beings emerged from the estimated 20 foot long craft. Farmer, Gary Wilcox drove his tractor toward the object clearly visible on a bright sunny day. The farmer kicked the metallic object to make sure it was real.

The two occupants were about four feet tall, and they carried a square tray full of the different vegetables they had collected from his farm. Wilcox reported that when he confronted the beings stealing his crops, they said:

"Don't be alarmed, we have spoken to people before."

Gary described the voices as being very strange. They wore white, metallic-looking overalls without seams, stitching or pockets. He could not see their hands or feet. Nor could he see their faces beneath the full space-suits, which Wilcox speculated were protecting these aliens from the poisons in Earth's atmosphere.

As Wilcox became inquisitive, one of them stated:

"We are from what you know as the planet Mars. We can only come to Earth every two years," and left a warning that Earth people should stay out of space.

They said that they were studying the organic materials on Earth because of the rocky structure of Mars, and that they did not fly near our cities because they avoided the air pollution.

Wilcox gave the beings a bag of fertilizer and exchanged information about agriculture and mankind's attempts at spaceflight. Wilcox was later investigated by a psychiatrist and the sheriff department, who found him a normal, truthful person with no apparent emotional problems.

In February 1972, United Nations diplomat Farida Iskiovet, who investigated UFOs and occupant contacts for the President of the General Assembly, revealed that she had been contacted by a landed spacecraft from the planet Mars. The reported contact took place in the Mojave Desert, in California, in 1971, and made the front page of the major Arizona newspaper the daily Arizona Republic.

This story also made the front page of the San Clemente Sun-Post in an article written by Fred Swegles. Farida stated that the alien offered to admit an ambassador to their interplanetary confederation in this solar system, in exchange for an alien ambassador to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Allegedly, this was an attempt to re-establish diplomatic relations with Earth and other planets that had been suspended in ancient times due to hostility on Earth. However, the terms of this peace arrangement were not acceptable to the Security Council, and the exchange was allegedly rejected in a secret meeting.

Tesla may have been the first to hear strange radio transmissions from space, but he certainly was not the last. Some of the world's leading astronomers have revealed that they have collected more than 100 unexplained radio signals during routine surveillance of space.

These faint, pure tones have no natural origin and could have been created artificially, the scientists said. They do not rule out the astonishing possibility that this strange radio traffic could have extraterrestrial origins.

Most of the signals have been picked up by American radio telescopes managed by the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) in Mountain View, California, set up in 1988 to study radio static in space and scan it for material that could be evidence of alien contact.

A few have also been logged by British astronomers studying stars and galaxies with the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank, near Macclesfield in Cheshire.

"It's tempting to hypothesize that at least some of these seductive signals were truly from ET and that they vanished from the ether when the extraterrestrials turned off their transmitters or otherwise went off air before we could verify the message," said Dr Seth Shostak, SETI's public programs scientist.

Alternatively, he said, it was possible they were simply the product of some kind of local interference that did not repeat when the astronomers tried to relocate the rogue signals.

SETI, which was formed by scientists including Carl Sagan and received funding from NASA until 1993, has reportedly yet to discover any clear, repeated radio pattern that might hint at the existence of alien intelligence in the universe.

The short, indistinct signals are not considered good evidence of ET.

"If you could hear the signal at the frequency it is received, it would sound like a faint whistle, a pure tone which could only be made by a transmitter. As far as we know, nature can't make a pure sound," said Shostak.

Each time one of these signals is detected by a radio telescope, an alarm alerts SETI astronomers, who work around the clock. None has yet been pinpointed or recorded a second time, so that scientists have been denied the chance of making a study of their source or composition.

"I'm sure there are signals that have come and gone that we couldn't get to the bottom of. That's not to say it's little green men trying to communicate with us, but we just don't know," said Dr Tom Muxlow, an astronomer at the British radio astronomy observatory.

He disclosed that Jodrell Bank had picked up about six rogue signals.

The possibility that the signals have extra-terrestrial origins cannot be ignored, according to Nobel laureate Tony Hewish, emeritus professor of radio astronomy at Cambridge University. In 1967 Hewish and Jocelyn Bell, a student, believed they had found evidence of an alien first contact when they detected a regular pulse of radio signals coming from a distant star.

"It all had an air of unreality about it, but for a month we thought it was possible that the signals were coming from intelligent life on another planet. When radio astronomers pick up signals that are very peculiar they take it with a big pinch of salt, but you cannot remove the possibility," said Hewish.

Instead, they had found a pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron star, a discovery for which Hewish won a Nobel prize in 1974.

During experiments at Colorado Springs in 1899, Tesla began to receive radio signals of a highly unusual nature.

He would later write:

"Although I could not at the time decipher their meaning, it was impossible for me to think of them as having been entirely accidental. The feeling is constantly growing on me that I had been the first to hear the greeting of one planet to another. A purpose was behind these electrical signals."

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