Face It

I came across this picture on the Astronomy Picture of the Day web site. It is a "realistic" view of the infamous face on Mars. A few years ago when the images first came back from Mars there was a definite resemblance to a face in some of the geological formations on the planets surfaces. The photos ran everywhere from mainstream newspapers to supermarket tabloids.

 

Of course, one of the main speculations was that the face was actually a giant monument left by some intelligent species that had since left Mars. It could have been evidence of an ancient culture on an alien world. Although I personally thought that the face was just a play of light and shadow on rugged terrain, it nevertheless fired the imagination.

 

Back here on Earth we have plenty of our own mysteries such as the pyramids in Egypt, Stonehenge, the drawings on the Nazca plains, the Bimini Road, and so own. even though I would love to know the truth about some of the mysteries, the speculation is probably far more exciting than reality. In fact, the reality is really probably pretty boring. Despite the face's debunking and the reveal of its secrets, I think that I would like to hold onto our terrestrial mysteries for a while.

 

It might be better to hang onto the hope that we are not alone in the universe, rather than finding out the possible truth that the universe is a big empty space with humanity being an insignificant little speck among the cosmic dust and debris.