by Samuel Jones

Created on: April 23, 2008

Published by NASA in the 1970's, the Brookins report contains guidelines for SETI and other agencies regarding the discovery alien civilizations. The report judged that worldwide chaos would result from the disclosure of alien artifacts, archeology and contemporary visitation.

It can therefore be seen that, while Conspiracy Theorists and those who prefer to believe in aliens may be assumed to fabricate or alter evidence to support their beliefs, NASA has stated an undertaking to conceal any evidence which might prove or even suggest alien life.

This leaves a problem for both sides of the debate, in that no evidence can be fully trusted regardless of its source; only our assumptions, either for or against the proposition of extraterrestrial life, guide us in making up our minds.

What then, is the evidence, doctored or otherwise? Most well-known are the anomalous structures found in the Cydonia region of Mars; the famous 'Cydonian Head' or 'Face on Mars', which has been photographed by NASA and appears to be a massive sphinx-like structure, a humanoid facing staring up at the heavens. According to NASA, the latest photos show that this is a natural formation, the humanoid characteristics an optical illusion. However, NASA have also published details of the processes used to enhance the image, a succession of filters that flatten out the image and render The Face as a virtually featureless patch of Martian soil. Naturally, believers in life on Mars reject this evidence and point to other contemporary photos that show distinctly artificial details not only on the The Face itself but also in the surrounding area; anomalous features resembling pyramids and other ruined structures have been suggested as evidence of an ancient Martian city in Cydonia.

Close to Cydonia but less widely known, are the mysterious tunnels extending for miles across the surface and presumably beneath it. Many images of these tunnels show color, artificial structure, transparency and partial collapse, but since the same issues of falsified evidence that apply to statements from NASA also affect believers in Martian life, these details cannot be considered conclusive evidence.

A recent discovery on Mars is the 'statue', a rock formation that resembles an upright human figure. Predictably, NASA has stated that this is a natural formation. However, NASA's other statements declare Mars an arid, airless wasteland; without wind, rain, or any other weather-effect that could cause erosion to produce such

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