Cydonia Quest

The Conspiracy

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The Real "X" Files?

Those who have read Richard Hoagland's The Monuments of Mars will know that towards the end of the book he begins to speculate that there is a high level policy to crush any public interest in the possibility that the Solar System is littered with the artefacts of a long gone alien civilisation. He went on to suggest that the Mars Observer, which mysteriously disappeared in 1993, might not have malfunctioned but had been programmed to respond and report back to a "deep black" mission control in advance of the mission. The aim of such a subjefuge would have been to obtain high resolution images of the artificial looking stuff in the Cydonia and Elysium regions without involving the wider scientific community and public. Hoagland then chronicles the apparent lack of urgency in NASA's attempts to recover the billion dollar spacecraft.

In a postscript to this story NASA recently announced the existence of an oversight committee for JPL (which runs planetary missions for NASA) headed by Admiral Bobby Inman, the former head of the National Security Agency. Furthermore, Admiral Inman took up this position shortly before the vanishing act by the Mars Observer µµµ. Bobby Inman is notorious in UFO circles for saying things that sound like sensational disclosures, but which later have "plausible deniability". Inman is not the National Security Agency's first high level link with JPL. Between 1982 and 1990 the Director of JPL was General Lew Allen (airforce retired) whose previous job was as Director of the National Security Agency µµµ.

So there appear to be strong links between America's most secretive, best resourced intelligence agency and planetary exploration. I cannot find a satisfactory answer as to whether there is a separate, military reconnaissance programme that hijacks civilian planetary probes, but it is an intriguing thought. NASA's charter makes it a civilian arm of the American military, which is why so many precious space shuttle missions have involved putting spy satellites into orbit. So it is entirely possible that NASA has co-operated with an undercover programme of cautiously sweeping the Solar System for signs of alien visitations.

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As part of the evidence gathering for the McDaniel Report (of which more later) a document came to light that was prepared by the Brookings Institute for NASA in its early days under the title Proposed Study on the Implication of Peaceful Space Activities for Human Affairs. A small part of this study was devoted to a section titled The implications of a discovery of extraterrestrial life. The most relevant parts of this section have been photocopied and scanned onto TEM's website. I've reproduced the parts that seemed to be the most interesting below.

....."Recent publicity given to efforts to detect extraterrestrial messages via radio telescope has popularised - and legitimised - speculations about the impact of such a discovery on human values. It is conceivable that there is semi-intelligent life in some part of our solar system or highly intelligent life which is not technologically oriented, and many cosmologists and astronomers think it is very likely that there is intelligent life in many other solar systems. While face-to-face meetings with it will not occur within the next 20 years (unless its technology is more advanced than ours, qualifying it to visit Earth), artefacts left at some point in time by these life forms might possibly be discovered through our space activities on the Moon, Mars, or Venus".....

So, although the authors of the report expected contact to be made with extraterrestrials through interstellar radio communication, they did warn NASA to be prepared for the possibility of discovering evidence of alien exploration much closer to home. Presumably NASA prepared a policy for just such an eventuality. There is a high degree of anxiety running throughout the text of this section.

....."Anthroplogical files contain many examples of societies, sure of their place in the universe, which have disintegrated when they had to associate with previously unfamiliar societies espousing different ideas and different ways of life: others that survived such an experience usually did so by paying the price of changes in values, attitudes and behaviour.".....

This is strong stuff considering that in this context the report is only considering the implications of engaging in "ham" radio contact with aliens. The authors warn that the consequences of contact are unpredictable and could occur at any time. They proposed two areas of research be commissioned -

....."Continuing studies to determine emotional and intellectual understanding, and attitudes - and successive alterations of them if any - regarding the possibility and consequences of discovering intelligent extraterrestrial life.

Historical and empirical studies of the behaviour of peoples and their leaders when confronted with dramatic and unfamiliar events or social pressures. Such studies might help to provide programs for meeting and adjusting to the implications of such a discovery. Questions one might wish to answer by such studies would include: How might such information, under what circumstances, be presented or withheld from the public and for what ends? What would be the role of the discovering scientists and other decision makers regarding release of the fact of discovery?".....

So the authors of the report anticipate that the authorities might wish to bury the discovery of fellow sentient beings because the whole concept is too disturbing. They also go on to make the following prophesy that seems to have been proven true by the reception that Cydonia researchers have met from the wider scientific community.

....."It has been speculated that of all groups, scientists and engineers might be the most devastated by the discovery of relatively superior creatures, since these professions are mostly associated with the mastery of nature, rather than with the understanding and expression of man. Advanced understanding of nature might vitiate all our theories at the very least, if not also require a culture and perhaps a brain inaccessible to Earth scientists.".....

Comments. This "Brookings Report" does not in itself prove that there has been a high level attempt to to cover-up evidence of, or hinder research into possible alien artefacts within the Solar System. Any report that recommended such a thing would be an inaccessible top secret document. However, it does reveal the mindset by which those in authority would justify a policy of secrecy, obstruction and double dealing in handling the discovery of an advanced extraterrestrial civilisation too close to home for comfort.

µµµ TEM's coverage of the Brookings Report

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NASA, Professor Mc Daniel and the Cheese Shop Sketch

Readers old enough to remember Monty Python's Flying Circus on the television may remember the Cheese Shop Sketch. A man enters a cheese shop to buy....well....cheese but finds his efforts increasingly frustrated by the polite shop owner who seems determined do anything but sell him cheese. The shop owner's excuses for his inability to supply the goods become ever more ridiculous...."The red cheddar sir? Oh! The cat's just run off with it"....that kind of thing.

This situation about sums up the attitude that scientists researching the Cydonian artificiality hypothesis have met from NASA. In 1993 Professor Stanley McDaniel, a philosopher specialising in the study of proper scientific method, published a highly critical report of NASA's treatment of the Cydonia issue and the agency's denigration of Cydonia researchers. (A full copy of this report can be ordered from Professor McDaniel's web-site). The following excerpts are taken from the executive summary of The McDaniel Report and give some idea of NASA's obstruction of attempts to verify whether or not there are ruins from an alien civilisation scattered about Mars.

....."A comprehensive independent analysis of the data supports this hypothesis, using established criteria for scientific methodology, shows the methods of research pursued by independent investigators are basically sound. There is a reasonable doubt as to the natural origin of the Cydonian objects. Reputable scientists in several fields, including physics, astronomy, and geology, have expressed their confidence in the overall integrity of this report and have called for further investigation of these landforms by NASA".....

....."Instead of carrying out legitimate scientific inquiry, NASA has regularly sent false and misleading statements regarding the landforms to members of Congress and their constituents. NASA has condoned efforts to unfairly ridicule and discredit independent researchers, and has insisted that there is a "scientific consensus" that the landforms are natural - despite the fact that the only real scientific study of the landforms indicates a clear possibility that they are artificial.".....

The report goes on to criticise the imaging policy that was adopted for both the Mars Observer and Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. Decisions about what was to be imaged on Mars - and exclusive control of those images for six months afterwards - was handed over to a private contractor, Dr Michael Malin. This is entirely at odds with NASA's usual policy of releasing images to the public as soon as they have been processed. Dr. Malin is a violent opponent of the artificiality hypothesis and was named in Professor McDaniel's report as one of those using unfair methods to discredit the scientists researching Cydonia.

As it has transpired, Dr. Malin has held on to images from the MGS for far, far longer than six months without complaint from NASA. It is hardly surprising that the conspiracy theorists, such as TEM, see Dr. Malin as a "front man" for deflecting criticism away from a NASA policy of thwarting investigation into the artificiality hypothesis. However, Richard Hoagland sees the recent dumping of 27,500 Mars images from the MGS onto the internet by Dr. Malin as a hopeful sign that NASA is slowly warming to the idea of the public investigation of the artificiality hypothesis.

Unlike Richard Hoagland's TEM, the Society for Planetary SETI Research (which encompasses all the professional scientists with an interest in the artificiality hypothesis) rejects the theory that there is a high level conspiracy to cover-up information in the way suggested by the Brookings Report. They have adopted Hanlon's Razor, i.e. "Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity".

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µµµ Executive Summary for the McDaniel Report

µµµ Professor McDaniels SPSR web-site

µµµ The SPSR's current explanations for NASA's unhelpful behaviour

µµµ An investigation by the SPSR into Dr.Malin's unfair debunking methods

µµµ A TEM report on NASA's broken promises as regards MGS imaging

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Comments. NASA's obstructive behaviour over the Cydonia issue is certainly consistent with the idea that they are either trying to hide the existence of alien artefacts - or that they have such a fear of discovering any that they will go to any lengths to avoid doing so. However, there could be other reasons, such as professional jealousy against outside scientists and "busybodies", or a fear of appearing to endorse a theory which is proved wrong later, i.e. cowardly political reasons.

In my own opinion NASA has no one other than themselves to blame if so many people suspect them of being involved in a "Brookings Report" type conspiracy to keep interesting discoveries secret. They have consistently stonewalled against imaging Cydonia, and then made public promises on imaging that they have failed to keep. This failure to co-operate has been accompanied by excuses lamer than those in the Cheese Shop Sketch and which seem economical with the truth.

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Surely you're joking, Mr. Hoagland?

Readers of the Enterprise Mission (TEM) website will know that Richard Hoagland and his associates have developed a conspiracy theory that goes much further than arguing that there is a governmental attempt to prevent the public from discovering the "truth" about Cydonia. They are also convinced that NASA is in the grip of esoteric secret societies that have a selfish addiction to hoarding interesting information away for themselves. As evidence of this secret society influence they point to an alleged pattern of esoteric symbolism and electional astrology pervading the American space programme since its inception. Moreover, they claim that the actions of many a politician, official and business person are also guided by beliefs derived from their membership of esoteric societies. Their most controversial claim is that within the wider movement of secret societies there is an organised element that is dangerously "psychotic" in its beliefs and objectives.

In my opinion TEM have never really provided sufficient background on the beliefs and rituals of secret societies for most people to judge the significance of their claims concerning esoteric ritual at NASA. Therefore Part Two of this review of The Conspiracy will explore the belief systems within esoteric societies that might make their members wish to ritualise the operations of NASA. Part Two will cover the three esoteric threads that TEM claims have influenced the symbolic and ritual pattern at NASA: namely the Freemasons, the Alister Crowley Thelema groups, and the secret societies that formed the carefully hidden bedrock of Nazi spiritual beliefs. Most space will be given over to Freemasonry because of its large membership and because, surprisingly, its spiritual belief system gives insights into those of the other two groups.

In Part Three of this review of The Conspiracy we will then outline TEM's secret society claims in detail and attempt to ascertain their credibility through careful analysis.

µ Click on "stargate" for Part Two

µ Click to skip on to Part Three