Conspiracy: History’s Greatest Plots, Collusions and Cover-Ups by Charlotte Greig
Authors: Charlotte Greig
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the world on such an epic scale it would have been easier to just go to the moon.
I S T HERE L IFE ON M ARS?
For many years, scientists have speculated about the existence of life on Mars, the Red Planet. In many ways, the planet is similar to Earth, having a cycle of days and nights that corresponds to our own, and also having seasons (although the seasons are different because Mars has a longer year). Since the seventeenth century, our knowledge about the planet, some of it conflicting, has accumulated, so that today many believe that simple life forms – or the potential for them – exist, or have existed, there.
The Face on Mars: Could this really be the fallen head of some gargantuan Martian statue, as claimed by some, most notably Richard Hoagland?
One of the major controversies has centred around whether or not Mars has the basic features necessary to support life as we know it: in particular, water. Most recently, in 2005, the European Space Agency's probe, Mars Express, brought back high resolution photographs of a frozen lake that nestled within a crater in Vastitas Borealis, a great plain in the northern part of Mars. The Agency team also discovered a subterranean "frozen sea" on the planet, as well as ice at each of its poles. These finds have prompted the renewed speculation that Mars once supported life and possibly continues to do so.
A PAST CIVILIZATION ?
In the late eighteenth century, the scientist William Herschel first demonstrated that the polar ice caps of Mars waxed and waned according to the seasons. A century later, many more features of the planet had been discovered, revealing its similarity to Earth. It appeared to have sea and land masses and it revolved around the sun on a similar axis to the Earth. Then came the extraordinary claim that a telescope sighting had revealed a system of canals on the planet. The claim was later found to be false, but fascination with the idea of life on Mars persisted.
In the nineteenth century, the eminent British scientist William Whewell and the American astronomer Percival Lowell popularized the idea that there was life on Mars. Their ideas inspired H.G. Wells to write his science fiction classic
The War of The Worlds
in 1897. This work of fiction, perhaps more than any other, crystallized our beliefs and fears about life on the planet. It told the story of alien beings trying to escape from a doomed civilization there by attempting to take over the Earth.
Flipping the Bird: although the keyhole nebula may appear to be gesturing rudely at the universe, it is in fact a random accretion of cosmic dust. The phenomenon of reading meaning into random shapes or patterns is known as pareidolia.
F ACT OR FANTASY ?
In the centuries that followed, speculation about an alien civilization on Mars continued, but scientific research seemed to fly in the face of those who believed that there was any type of life at all on Mars. During the 1960s and 1970s, space probes such as Mariner 4 and Viking were sent to make tests, but they appeared to reveal that the planet was a dry, dusty place full of UV radiation, with no sign of rivers or seas. It was hard to believe that any form of life could survive in such a climate. There were one or two dissenting voices who interpreted the findings differently, such as Dr Gilbert Levin, who had designed one of the tests, but most self-respecting scientists gave up the quest to find life on Mars and left speculation to the science fiction enthusiasts.
Then, in 1996, news came that a meteorite from Mars had been found. After an asteroid collision, the meteorite had fallen off Mars and hurtled through space for millions of years, entering the Earth's atmosphere about 13,000 years ago and landing in Antarctica, where it was discovered by a NASA team in 1984. ALH84001, as the lump of rock was called, was examined microscopically by scientists from NASA and Stanford University and was thought to show evidence of fossilized microbes.
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I S T HERE L IFE ON M ARS?
For many years, scientists have speculated about the existence of life on Mars, the Red Planet. In many ways, the planet is similar to Earth, having a cycle of days and nights that corresponds to our own, and also having seasons (although the seasons are different because Mars has a longer year). Since the seventeenth century, our knowledge about the planet, some of it conflicting, has accumulated, so that today many believe that simple life forms – or the potential for them – exist, or have existed, there.
The Face on Mars: Could this really be the fallen head of some gargantuan Martian statue, as claimed by some, most notably Richard Hoagland?
One of the major controversies has centred around whether or not Mars has the basic features necessary to support life as we know it: in particular, water. Most recently, in 2005, the European Space Agency's probe, Mars Express, brought back high resolution photographs of a frozen lake that nestled within a crater in Vastitas Borealis, a great plain in the northern part of Mars. The Agency team also discovered a subterranean "frozen sea" on the planet, as well as ice at each of its poles. These finds have prompted the renewed speculation that Mars once supported life and possibly continues to do so.
A PAST CIVILIZATION ?
In the late eighteenth century, the scientist William Herschel first demonstrated that the polar ice caps of Mars waxed and waned according to the seasons. A century later, many more features of the planet had been discovered, revealing its similarity to Earth. It appeared to have sea and land masses and it revolved around the sun on a similar axis to the Earth. Then came the extraordinary claim that a telescope sighting had revealed a system of canals on the planet. The claim was later found to be false, but fascination with the idea of life on Mars persisted.
In the nineteenth century, the eminent British scientist William Whewell and the American astronomer Percival Lowell popularized the idea that there was life on Mars. Their ideas inspired H.G. Wells to write his science fiction classic
The War of The Worlds
in 1897. This work of fiction, perhaps more than any other, crystallized our beliefs and fears about life on the planet. It told the story of alien beings trying to escape from a doomed civilization there by attempting to take over the Earth.
Flipping the Bird: although the keyhole nebula may appear to be gesturing rudely at the universe, it is in fact a random accretion of cosmic dust. The phenomenon of reading meaning into random shapes or patterns is known as pareidolia.
F ACT OR FANTASY ?
In the centuries that followed, speculation about an alien civilization on Mars continued, but scientific research seemed to fly in the face of those who believed that there was any type of life at all on Mars. During the 1960s and 1970s, space probes such as Mariner 4 and Viking were sent to make tests, but they appeared to reveal that the planet was a dry, dusty place full of UV radiation, with no sign of rivers or seas. It was hard to believe that any form of life could survive in such a climate. There were one or two dissenting voices who interpreted the findings differently, such as Dr Gilbert Levin, who had designed one of the tests, but most self-respecting scientists gave up the quest to find life on Mars and left speculation to the science fiction enthusiasts.
Then, in 1996, news came that a meteorite from Mars had been found. After an asteroid collision, the meteorite had fallen off Mars and hurtled through space for millions of years, entering the Earth's atmosphere about 13,000 years ago and landing in Antarctica, where it was discovered by a NASA team in 1984. ALH84001, as the lump of rock was called, was examined microscopically by scientists from NASA and Stanford University and was thought to show evidence of fossilized microbes.
At
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