Lowell's Legacy -Part 7

Lowell's Legacy- Part 7- MOC Image E0101630- Crater streaks in northeastern Chryse southeastern Acidalia

"Now, if a planet were at any stage of its career able to support life, it is probable that a diminishing water supply would be the beginning of the end of that life, for the air would outlast the available water. Those of its inhabitants who had succeeded in surviving would find themselves at last face to face with the relentlessness of a scarcity of water constantly growing greater, till at last they would all die of thirst, either directly or indirectly; for either they themselves would not have water enough to drink, or the plants or animals which constituted their diet would perish for lack of it, --an alternative of small choice to them, unless they were conventionally particular as to their mode of death. Before this lamentable conclusion was reached, however, there would come a time in the course of the planet's history when water was not yet wanting, but simply scarce and requiring to be husbanded; when, for the inhabitants, the one supreme problem of existence would be the water problem,--how to get water enough to sustain life, and how best to utilize every drop of water they could get.

Mars is, apparently, in this distressing plight at the present moment, the signs being that its water supply is now exceedingly low. If, therefore, the planet possess inhabitants, there is but one course open to them in order to support life. Irrigation, and upon as vast a scale as possible, must be the all-engrossing Martian pursuit. So much is directly deducible from what we have learned at Flagstaff of the physical condition of the planet, quite apart from any question as to possible inhabitants. What the physical phenomena assert is this: if there be inhabitants, then irrigation must be the chief material concern of their lives."

-Percival Lowell

MOC image strip E0101630 is another image from the boundary of the Chryse and Acidalia regions which illustrates the three dimensional nature of this alien infrastructure and helps to define a systemic relationship between the tunnels, the incidence of unusual craters, possible surface water and the other inexplicable artifacts we see local to the tunnel system on a repeating basis. This is exactly the same goal that Lowell hoped to achieve at the 1895 exposition. Over the next several years we will be blessed with several new types of instrumentation supplying valuable information on the nature of such anomalies. The ability to see a few meters beneath the surface would certainly prove a boon to resolving such controversial issues as these. You can trust that we'll be looking for correlations between this new data and these images in spite of NASA officialdom dismissing such images as "Martian dune trains"

Crop of E0101630
Special thanks to John Levassuer and SPSR
Image courtesy NASA/JPL/MSSS

While the examination of artifacts near the limits of our imaging capabilities is debatable to some, we postulate that the structures internal to the basins found adjacent to the "glass tunnel" anomalies is systemically related to and an important part of our hypothesis. Near the top of the strip we see one of Lowell's canals surrounded by a number of large depressions some of which contain our culprit "structures" and possibly liquid water. Shown below is another example of this overhanging structure we see repeatedly in the basins close to our tunnels. While I am not a geologist, if not of intelligent design, perpetually flowing liquid water would seem to be the culprit to blame for these formations. If nothing else, knowledge of the Martian ecosystem might be learned from further study of such overhanging formations given the proclivity of the Martian aquifer materials to be carved by water.

Moving to the other side of the image strip we are confronted with a spectacular set of twin openings located directly adjacent to one of our tunnels with its distinctive rib pattern. The tunnel appears to connect with two basins that contain standing water or ice in their bottoms. The opening on the right is approximately 50 meters high and 100 meters across and looks to contain water or water ice at its base. A large, curving "ramp" appears to run up one side to the area above the entrance.

Image courtesy J. Danger
©2004 Dangerzone Productions

Directly to the fore is a large basin with another located just underneath the rim like some Martian scenic overlook. This opening also measures 50 meters by 100 meters. Two mysterious openings, so exactly alike and geographically adjacent cannot be attributed to a mere coincidence of geology. It is unlikely that mere geology would produce two openings with the same exact specifications. Such "alikeness" is the hallmark of an intelligently constructed edifice. The implications of this ribbed tunnel connecting these surface depressions and the close proximity of geometrically identical entrances is not lost on this author. Percival Lowell would have grasped it's significance immediately.

Artist's rendition of the general area (above) along with our "ramped opening" and "gravel pit lake" (below). Judging by recent ESA images we should have made the water bluer and the algae greener!

Images courtesy Eric C. Lausch
©2004 Dangerzone Productions

Heading southeast from the reservoirs a tunnel surfaces in the midst of three more possible cavern openings. The outermost two have remarkably similar attributes to the openings already looked at in that they are approximately the same size and shape.

Cavern opening near Tunnel
©2004 Dangerzone Productions

Next we cross an area where there seem to be large portions of the surface material scooped away in a manner reminiscent of the methods used by the Borg as they assimilated entire Federation colonies on Star Trek, leaving huge craters behind where the colony once had been. Striking similarities can be made between this area and terrestrial gravel pits or mineral extraction facilities. A large geometric opening of a rectangular nature with a central vertical support which resembles a mine entrance is located directly adjacent to a Martian gravel pit lake. Just to the right is a cavernous opening with three gigantic "curtains" of Martian rock hanging perpendicularly over the cavern entrance.

In the other "scooped out" areas one can discern the rib like tunnel or roof supports associated with this phenomenon. Another opening remarkably similar to the one with the the ramp we examined just north of here can be seen just below center on the right side. Again we see some type of external ramp structure or piping running around the entrance and then running inside of the opening. On the ridge above the triangular opening a large circular opening is found just in front of the triangle entrance. A shiny surface road can be seen running along the center of the ridge. One notes that the "road" neatly bisects the circular opening on both sides. A gently sloping floor disappears down into the hole like a ramp designed for heavy equipment. Several smaller entrances can also be found in the general vicinity. The entire "gravel pit" crop area measures approximately 1.25 km by 1.5 km.

Crop of E0101630
Image courtesy of J. Danger
Special thanks to Dr. David Pieri and JPL

As to the mechanism responsible for this "Borg" like scooping away of surface material one can only speculate. Again, intelligent intervention or copious amounts of water would seem to be the most likely suspects, possibly a combination of both. Either theory has merit and both have a relationship to the glass tunnels under Lowell's rules.

If an civilization thrived on Mars long enough to reach a level of technology to construct theses "tunnels" before the cataclysm that befell Mars, covering the surface with a thick layer of dust and other particulate matter, then the survivors would be forced to dig out tons of material at certain locations critical for accessing the tunnel system. The place certainly has the feel of some type of civil engineering venture, most notably the rectangular "mine" like entrance with its vertical supports.

Another possible alternative is that the tunnels were backflushed with water at certain locations, building up pressure until the clogs, so to speak, at the entrances were forced outward with some force similar to the Martians "seeps" bursting forth from beneath the Martian sands first quantified Palermo and England in the late 1990's.

Closer scrutiny of this area turns up some intriguing items. The highly reflective surface of the gravel pit lake is a sure indicator of standing water. Confirming items such as liquid pools of water on the surface will soon be a moot point as the ESA Mars Express beams back high resolution color images. The water will be obvious if it is there. However, items such as the enigmatic, geometrically shaped mine entrance beg for further investigation with ground penetrating radar to determine what lies beyond the entrance. The rectangular "mine" entrance is about 100 meters across and 40 meters high.

Images courtesy Eric C. Lausch
©2003 Dangerzone Productions

Another unusual feature one can see here is the curtain like structures that hang down vertically above the terraced ribs. This certainly looks like another entrance to John Carter's Mars.. The multiple spillway sports three 70 meter "valves". That these structures are the same approximate dimensions as the "valve" seen in the crater in MOC image E0400863 is probably no coincidence. Again we are faced with a repeating classes of objects on the planet Mars. These "valve" devices or bulkheads in the basins and a myriad of surface openings adjacent to the tunnel anomalies.

Of particular interest are the strange objects at the limits of camera resolution. Measuring only 4 or 5 pixels in height these "objects" would be about 13 to 15 feet tall. Having inspected numerous images of this "sedimentary" looking material around the various "glass tunnel" sites can say that this is the first incidence of such "objects" in that I have found in these areas. At first glance there is a certain helical or flower petal look to these objects that make their orderly arrangement stand out in the much larger image strip. High resolution images of objects in this scale will be pivotal in verifying the existence of artifacts resulting from intelligent design on Mars. The terrace like "steppes" exhibit a clearly three dimensional quality, appearing to extend into the hillside as if part of a larger buried structure. The step height is around 2 pixels or 6 to 7 feet. Anyone who says that's a sand dune can kiss Dick Hoagland's you know what!

Image courtesy Danger Team Image Labs
©2003 Dangerzone Productions

Below we a have colorization of this area with our "unusual objects" highlighted in yellow. Adding a splash of color changes the perspective radically. This almost looks like a group of beings or creatures lounging about in a loosely formed semicircle (Eric Lausch joked that it looks like "two Martian babes layin' out catching some UV while their three boyfriends sit around drinking Martian beer and talking about sports while casting furtive glances at their backsides") raising the possibility that this could be some kind of life form. Another possibility is that this is yet another form of iconography, sculpture or architectural relic. Artifacts of commensurate scale will eventually be the key evidence in proving intelligent interdiction on the planet Mars. Have patience my friends, Mars is fast running out of sand dunes that NASA can use to explain away such extraterrestrial peculiarities.

As I write this the NASA "Spirit" rover sits on its pad yet to test its treads on the dusty plains of Gusev Crater. Mission team members have selected a tentative first mission for Spirit, a small dusty depression referred to as "Sleepy Hollow" in the spirit on the hugely successful 1997 Pathfinder mission where every rock within sight of the lander had acquired a nickname before the mission was over. Upon the mission selection, Steven Squyres, chief mission scientist was quoted by the AP as saying, "It's a hole in the ground, it's a window in the interior of Mars."

At this point I'd like to suggest to Dr. Squyres that if he really wishes to explore the interior of Mars like some modern day John Carter, that he drive his $400 million dollar R.C. golf cart into one of these immense openings and take a gander around. There's even a ramp for easy access.

A comparison of E0101630 narrow angle (3.07m/pixel) and wide angle (3.59m/pixel) images yield slightly different perspectives due to the movement of the spacecraft relative to the target. This comparison confirms that both the inexplicable structures and the cavernous openings are real and not a "trick of light and shadow".

MOC Image E0101630 narrow and wide angle images
Images courtesy Danger Team Image Labs
©2003 Dangerzone Productions

Three large openings can be seen in this image. The opening to the rear looks somewhat triangular at this angle but more than likely it is a dead ringer for the previously examined opening with the same type of ramp or structure adjacent to it. They most certainly were built on the same scale and appear quite similar in design. The raised structures seen near the bottom of the ramp on the flat broad expanse fronting of the cavern mouth will make for another excellent MRO high resolution image target.

Directly across from the ramp we see a circular opening which appears to be 50 to 60 meters in diameter. A bright, perfectly straight line bisects the hole and appears to snake away along the ridge line neatly following the local topography like the heavy equipment track at a large scale mineral extraction facility. Inspection of both images suggests this hole is the mouth of a shaft which runs diagonally for about 150 meters before breaking out again at the area below and to the left. Some of you will note the square white box (just right of the white indicator line ) positioned strategically off the side of the road like a contractor's line shack at a job site.

If there be windows into the interior of Mars as Squyres suggests, then these be them. This author fully realizes that there are those amongst you readers who think these theories are "full of holes". I beg these good folks to explain the next image crop from the complex Martian civil engineering project imaged in MOC E0101630.

Traveling south from the gravel pit area we are greeted with this amazing sight. One of the glass tunnels can be seen opening into the side of a crater or "caldera" so to speak. Approximately 100 meters across and 85 meters high (at 3.07 meters/pixel) this yawning aperture gushes out what looks like liquid water from the tunnel into the crater basin. The "ribs" in the segment of tunnel leading away from this pool seems to indicate an acute geometric quality with an almost "step" like appearance to the tunnel supports rather than the smooth curves found in nature. After our "staircase" the tube is again covered with debris only to resurface near the junction of a double reservoir and collapsed dome. The entire image crop shown here is about a half a kilometer wide and over two kilometers in length.

This image (E0101630) pretty much scotched the skepticism in regards to the "glass tunnel" anomalies for some folks I know who have seen it. Clearly, these are underground structures which connect with the surface of the red planet. Perhaps long ago some sections of this system stood above the plains of Mars in spots and have like the Mississippian mounds, succumbed to degradation by slumping or being covered with Martian detritus leaving only tantalizing hints of what lies beneath for our perusal. Here, once again we find a ramp like structure running up and around the cavern mouth. With this clear evidence of the glass tunnel anomalies relationship to this series of nearly identical apertures it is reasonable to extrapolate that the other similar openings seen in MOC image E0101630 are connected to these tunnels as well.

Just east of the "stairsteps" and opening there are areas where incoming tunnels break the surface, disappears below and resurface again like tree roots just below the ground.

Clearly, these are some type of structures running beneath the Martian regolith. The debate over their artificiality is rendered moot by common sense. Whatever the origin of these amazing structures, further study into their nature should be a priority for our taxpayer funded government science organizations. To simply dismiss them as sand dunes and then ignore their existence is an untenable position for ethical researchers. These are certainly the most unusual artifacts thus far observed on Mars. The fact that MSSS has taken an inordinately high number of images clustered around M15-01228 suggests a clandestine interest in this anomaly. Unfortunately none of our scientists are commenting on them.

Lowell's bookie would most likely give 60 to 1 odds on this area having artificial constructs. It has a high groundwater incidence, tunnels opening into basins and apparent surface structures which can be seen in our mine entrance supports and the ramps around the tunnel mouths. Those fond of betting a longshot might go 300 to 1 with the inclusion of the line shack and the assumption the the unusual objects near the spillway are small scale effigies, but this author considers both in need of higher resolution images before their inclusion into Lowell's equations. They certainly do make one wonder about the nature of such peculiarities.

"It is patent that here are phenomena that are passing strange. To read their riddle we had best begin by excluding what they are not, as help towards deciphering what they are. So far, we have regarded the canals only statically, so to speak; that is, we have sketched them as they would appear to any one who observed them in sufficiently steady air, once, and once only. But this is far from all that a systematic study of the lines will disclose. Before, however, entering upon this second phase of their description, we may pause to note how, even statically regarded, the aspect of the lines is enough to put to rest all the theories of purely natural causation that have so far been advanced to account for them. This negation is to be found in the supernaturally regular appearance of the system, upon three distinct counts: first, the straightness of the lines; second, their individually uniform width; and, third, their systematic radiation from special points."

-Percival Lowell

In our conclusion we go full circle. The area in Acidalia that gave us MOC image M0400291 has been reimaged as a consequence of the FACETS litigation. As it is the image that spawned our original venture into Lowellian mythos it seems an appropriate place to conclude our Martian field trip.

Lowell's Legacy- Part 8

Back to Site Map