Life on Mars

Life on Mars

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Life on Mars Press Release (Released 12-08-2003)

The Science				The Story
A trio of researchers in America and the UK have published what they believe to be the first genuine pictures of animal life on the Red Planet on their website, Mars-Mania. This small band of 'anomaly hunters' is comprised of Keith Phillips, Ernie Vega, and Tony Austin who lives in England. Austin previously collaborated with Paul J. McLeod of Australia to publish their booklet- 'The Sandwhales of Mars' in 2001, but says- "What we had then was not as convincing as the new pictures on our website". Tony Austin is the owner of Black Rabbit Press & has now published four books, two of them about the planet Mars. Keith Phillips and Ernie Vega hail from America and work in the electronics industry. Keith phillips is working to improve the ratings of his much visited site and predicts- "When we issue our postcards of the animal life we have found, people will have to sit up and take notice". Keith's postcards feature images of huge animals in the locality of Syrtis Major on Mars, selected by NASA as a possible landing ground for future missions because of the flat terrain and absence of rocky outcrops. This means that the creatures the anomaly hunters have found cannot be said to be natural features of the landscape. Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, contracted to NASA, took no less than 28 narrow angle high resolution pictures of Syrtis Major in order to investigate the curious objects that had been discovered there. The creatures depicted on Malin's images and on Keith's postcards average 135 meters in length and would weigh hundreds of tonnes on Earth, but only 38% of that on Mars. At first, the human eye has some difficulty appreciating that these are real living creatures because there is nothing on Earth with which they can be compared. Bigger than dinosaurs, these animals are equipped with six legs, a split tail, & multiple feelers towards the head end, on which two distinct eyes can be seen. The twin patterned humps on the back gave rise to the name 'Marbra', and may be the Martian equivalent of lungs in which oxygen producing algal colonies could exist. No juveniles have been found which suggests that the Marbra lay eggs. [Source: Anthony Austin 12-08-2003]				The remarkable postcards issued by mars-mania show two Marbras. The second is suffering from predation by an un-named smaller creature, which has bitten a chunk out of the furthest side of the dying Marbra and is now climbing over its back! The contorted victim has changed colour and left a trail of 'blood'over the landscape. It is impossible to interpret this scenario in terms of natural rock or sand-dune formations, but the finders of the these images comment: "We have approached all manner of experts for their opinions, but nobody wishes to risk ridicule from their "colleagues" Austin adds: "We have polled the general public, asking ordinary people whether they think these are living creatures or not. About 40% immediately said that the things were alive, but the rest were not sure, and no wonder! Keith Phillips comments that anyone can view the original NASA images on his Mars-Mania website "You should look at our narrow angle section" comments Keith, "or view Parts XXII and XXIII in Life and death on Mars". Ther are three probes currently travelling to Mars to hopefully confirm that the Red Planet is still the abode of life, but they are not designed to look for animals of any description. NASA's programme extends a hundred years into the future. It is obvious that the discovery of large animals on Mars would be very much premature, so far as NASA is concerned, which must nevertheless come to terms, as we all must, with the reality of life on Mars. Austin laughs at the current official view of Mars, saying that- "Vegetation was known to exist 50 years ago when Mars was photographed in colour. There is a 'green wave' that spreads from the Poles in Summer that everyone has forgotten about." He says that NASA and MSSS have now got perfectly good pictures of fungoid and lichen-type vegetation in various places on Mars, which can be viewed on the Internet. Of course, NASA doggedly denies the reality of vegetation on Mars, but for what reason, only NASA knows. It provides a perfectly adequate food source for Marbras and God knows what else... NASA seems determined to present the planet as totally inhospitable to life, which is certainly not the case. There were organisms on Earth that could live without any oxygen, and recent studies have highlighted a number of terran 'extremophiles' that live and have their being in such environments as pure alkali, inside solid rocks, and in boiling hot springs. To deny the possibilty of life on Mars is beyond all reason. To deny it when shown pictures of that life is madness.

Note: Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Special Thanks to Keith, Ernie, & Tony