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Definition:
On July 25, 1976, Viking Orbiter 1 photographed parts of the Cydonia region of Mars
in a search for possible landing sites for Viking Lander 2. One of those photographs included
an image which looks remarkably like a human face. NASA scientists simply regarded this
as a natural formation, but a more popular interpretation quickly dubbed this "Face on Mars"
to be the work of sentient life - either visiting aliens or native Martian life which has since
died out.
The basic argument here is that nothing which looks human or organic can be the product of natural forces. Therefore, it must be the product of deliberate design and planning - aliens of some sort. But anyone who has laid back on the ground on a summer's day and watched the clouds floating above knows, for a fact, that organic shapes (including face) can drift by, created by the work of natural forces. Scientists see this all of the time, not just on our planet but also in images from other planets. We are pattern-seeking animals and, when we see something familiar at all, images emerge. This is also known as pareidolia
Part of the reason for seeing patterns, and an important reason for seeing the Face on Mars, is a lack of information. When we don't see everything, we pick out what is important and assign subjective importance to some features but not others. With the case of the the image from Mars, much of our information was lost due to the low quality of the camera, the angle of the photograph, and the illumination at the time. More recent images taken with a much better camera and from various angles demonstrate that there isn't really much of face there at all. Today, belief that there is a face on Mars at all, much less that it was created by alien designers, is simply a matter of blind faith.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
Skepticism & Critical Thinking
This is the main index for issues dealing with skepticism, critical thinking, logic and arguments. The first section is Critical Thinking itself - how to think about claims and arguments you hear, how to critique arguments, and how to formulate your own arguments such that they are more likely to be sound and valid. The second section is about Skeptical Investigations - the practical application of the critical thinking skills covered in the first section. Here you will find critiques of things like astrology, alternative medicine, parapsychology, the New Age and more.
