Case for the Face

In 1976, NASA's Viking orbiters photographed the surface of Mars and sent pictures back to Earth. What some people see in these pictures, a distinctly humanoid face, has been hotly debated ever since, prompting the question, "Are there artificial structures on Mars?" If you haven't heard of the face on Mars, then you haven't been paying attention to the news about the photos taken by the recent Mars Global Surveyor mission or Art Bell's late night radio talk show about paranormal phenomena or even the covers of the supermarket tabloids. The face is nearly everywhere.

The Case for the Face examines the original NASA images using a battery of different techniques, from stereo imaging to fractal analysis, in an effort to determine if the face is simply a trick of the light or a structure fabricated by an extraterrestrial intelligence. Rather than handing out unchallenged assumptions, The Case for the Face explains how the evidence is gathered, what tests are used for analysis, and gives the reader a crash course in geometry, Martian geology, and computer-image enhancement. The authors present a strong case for the belief that the face, and many other structures in the area, were artificially constructed. In doing so, they also make a compelling argument for opening a new era of manned space exploration and further investigation of this enigmatic portrait in stone. --Brian Patterson