Lowly Conspiracy Monger Pushes Dotty Claim
Apparently Richard C. Hoagland has never encountered a dot he couldn’t connect.
During the Apollo space program he served as a science advisor to newsman Walter Cronkite and CBS-TV news. Since that time Hoagland through his website and book has constructed one of the greatest conspiracy theories of modern times. (Of course, it involves the Freemasons; that organization’s involvement is de rigueur with any far-flung, far-out conspiracy claims.)
One key point in his theory is the face on Mars. Back in 1976 a NASA space probe photographed a section of Mars where it seemed a giant face was staring up into the sky. Was this a monument, evidence left behind by alien beings? More photos taken in 2002 by another satellite proved that the “structure” was an illusion created by natural features and the play of light and shadow.
But Hoagland couldn’t accept that answer. In the 1976 photo the face looked manlike and Hoagland claimed that it indeed had humanoid features. But when the 2002 images showed the manlike features weren’t really there, Hoagland backtracked a bit and said he never claimed what would be revealed by clearer images would prove to be an exact match to a human face.
[ http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/hoagland/face.html ]
But Hoagland has a way of making the dots connect after the fact. Sometimes he doesn’t tie A with B; he just skips most of the alphabet and goes right to Z.
The pyramid shape is fairly common on earth, whether it be manmade or natural. After a satellite image suggested a pyramid structure on Mars, Hoagland worked backwards, trying to find conspiratorial evidence with anything pyramidal. When he came across a Martian pyramid in a “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet” SF story from old View Master reels, then he had to connect that dot, it wasn’t a coincidence.
Apparently Richard C. Hoagland has never encountered a dot he couldn’t connect.
During the Apollo space program he served as a science advisor to newsman Walter Cronkite and CBS-TV news. Since that time Hoagland through his website and book has constructed one of the greatest conspiracy theories of modern times. (Of course, it involves the Freemasons; that organization’s involvement is de rigueur with any far-flung, far-out conspiracy claims.)
One key point in his theory is the face on Mars. Back in 1976 a NASA space probe photographed a section of Mars where it seemed a giant face was staring up into the sky. Was this a monument, evidence left behind by alien beings? More photos taken in 2002 by another satellite proved that the “structure” was an illusion created by natural features and the play of light and shadow.
But Hoagland couldn’t accept that answer. In the 1976 photo the face looked manlike and Hoagland claimed that it indeed had humanoid features. But when the 2002 images showed the manlike features weren’t really there, Hoagland backtracked a bit and said he never claimed what would be revealed by clearer images would prove to be an exact match to a human face.
[ http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/hoagland/face.html ]
But Hoagland has a way of making the dots connect after the fact. Sometimes he doesn’t tie A with B; he just skips most of the alphabet and goes right to Z.
The pyramid shape is fairly common on earth, whether it be manmade or natural. After a satellite image suggested a pyramid structure on Mars, Hoagland worked backwards, trying to find conspiratorial evidence with anything pyramidal. When he came across a Martian pyramid in a “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet” SF story from old View Master reels, then he had to connect that dot, it wasn’t a coincidence.
So why would the conspirators behind the great cover-up put a clue to such a Martian structure in a kid’s story from the 1950s? You got me.
Hoagland’s latest dotty claim is that comic book artist Jack Kirby during the late 1950s wrote a face on Mars story under the influence of the conspiracy; his work was based upon inside info. (Race To The Moon #2, Harvey Comics.) To quote Hoagland:
"Kirby wrote this amazingly prophetic tale only eleven months after the Space Age officially began -- with the surprising Russian launch of Sputnik 1, October 4, 1957--
"But -- eighteen years before the rest of us would see (from Viking 1) what was waiting for the Human Race on Mars ….
“'FROM THE MOON TO THE RED PLANET! – WHERE YOU WILL SEE THE GREAT EYES THAT LOOK OUT ACROSS THE AGES! AND THEY HAVE A STORY TO TELL! LISTEN TO THE GIANT—
“'FACE ON MARS.'
"So, in 1958 … how did Kirby know?!"
Then Hoagland writes:
"So, how does a lowly 'comic artist' in the 1950’s become privy to the Greatest Secret in the History of Man … before it could be known?!
"One reasonable possibility is that Jack Kirby somehow saw the same View Master reels from “Tom Corbett: Space Cadet” that we were loaned -- only much, much earlier. However, this cannot be the answer ... because the Corbett reels – while containing much extraordinary information relating to Cydonia we have verfied [sic] five decades later – did NOT contain a single mention of “a giant face on Mars!”
"So -- if he didn’t get his information from “Tom Corbett,” regarding “ruins of an ancient, war-torn civilization on the planet Mars … presided over by a giant head …” -- how did Jack Kirby know about “the Face!?
"The answers’ [sic] obvious: he was simply told."
[ http://www.enterprisemission.com/forbidden-planet.htm ]
Here’s another obvious answer:
Jack Kirby –- who co-created many of the famous Marvel superheroes like the Fantastic Four –- had a great imagination. Kirby dreamt up many comic book stories during his long career. With such a body of work, it’s probable that one of his ideas would coincide with some event in real life, especially after time marched on. By chance the Mars Orbiter in 1972 happened to fly over a certain area of Mars when the light and shadows visually transformed part of the surface into a manlike face. There’s no need to deduce that the face on Mars is an artificial construct and that some mysterious insiders let Kirby know about the face years before it was photographed.
Once again: if you’re trying to keep hidden knowledge hidden, then why reveal in a story for kids?
And once again: You got me.
Maybe Hoagland is part of another conspiracy to spread disinformation, a dupe keeping the truth hidden from the masses by making silly claims that obscure the real story.
Anyone can selectively connect dots, can't they?
[Other sources:
http://www.enterprisemission.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hoagland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_on_Mars
http://skepdic.com/faceonmars.html ]
The Spirit of Jack Kirby Confronts Hoagland
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