A "Face" Was Photographed on Mars in 1976, but Later Photos Showed It Was Just a Hill

In 1976, the United States' "Viking 1" probe flew around Mars and took many photos. One of them showed a region called Cydonia, where there was a hill with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, looking like a giant human face, about two kilometers wide, lying on its back gazing at the sky.

NASA issued a press release at the time, saying it was an illusion caused by light and shadow, and that taking a picture at a different time would make it look different. But this photo was too captivating, and book after book came out claiming it was something left by an alien civilization, a monument built by ancient Martians. One of the authors, named Richard Hoagland, wrote a book that was a bestseller in the eighties, and the book also claimed there were pyramids and ruins of a city nearby.

In April 1998, another probe, "Mars Global Surveyor", flew to the same place and took a picture with a high-definition camera. When the photo came out, some said the angle was wrong, others said there was mist in the picture, so nothing could be seen clearly and it didn't count. In April 2001, the same probe took another picture; this time the weather was good, and the resolution was many times higher than Viking's. In the photo, that hill was just a hill, somewhat like a flat-topped mountain eroded by wind, with no eyes, no nose, and no face at all.

Psychologists call this phenomenon "pareidolia": the human brain is especially sensitive to "faces", and tries to piece everything it sees into a face. Electrical outlets, the front of cars, water stains on ceilings, spots on the moon—all come from this.

But even now, there are still people who say the real alien ruins are that old low-resolution photo.

#Paranormal #网络转载 #科学