I have recently become convinced that the ESA Mars Express photos provide enough information to support the hypothesis that Mars was home to a civilization that existed quite some time ago and left ruins behind.

Having read through the threads in this forum and having been directed back to the shameful 'Major Tom..." flame-fest that left one poor soul thoroughly disenchanted somewhat saddened at the schoolyard antics of his critics, I would like to invite a reexamination of the ESA photos of Crater Hale with the intent to rationally determine whether or not the photos are a hoax.

For those who may not be familiar with the ESA photos and the controversy surrounding them, please indulge me a brief synopsis: There is a high-resolution photo of Crater Hale, looking west. In the lower left-hand corner, at the terminus of the central mountain range is a city of ruins. The city is not resolved in the full image, but if one enlarges either the .jpg or .tif downloaded image, one may readily discern indisputable evidence of artificiality.
Loaded into an editing viewer and stripped of chroma, that is to say converted to a greyscale image, the enlarged area evidences buildings in ruin, streets, multi-story structures and outlying areas that have all the hallmarks of a municipality, small town or perhaps a purpose-community such as a military installation.

I'm sure someone out there in this blogspace is familiar with this. I am new to Bad Astronomy and inexpert as to how to run all its features, so it will be some time before I can imbed hyperlinks and do all the cool tricks. But to help us get started, if you are a reader interested, please go to the ESA (European Space Agency) website and download the Crater Hale photo of your choice and take a look for yourself.

Also, if you go to photobucket and search on Crater Hale, there are some twenty photos and other postings that have the relevant information already processed. For me, this was an easier route as all the work had been done, and after seeing the results and what they were getting at, I was able to resolve the same imaging myself using the original ESA downloads.

IF (caps intentional) this is real, we need to discuss it at some length. IF this is a hoax, it's spectacular and whoever did it deserves an Academy Award (tm) for Special Effects and a job in Hollywood.

Please join me in this. Your insight is welcome. Thank you.
=BillyG

-Real men don't need avatars.-
- I said that