Introduction to Version 3.3

A Hill on Mars presents the view that the surface of Mars in the Cydonia region contains landforms which are of artificial origin. Giant faces and geometrical monuments much larger than the pyramids of ancient Egypt are aligned with the heavens in accordance to the design of Martian astronomers. This is the most important scientific discovery of our age, its reprucussions threatening the philosophical foundations of our society. And for that reason, it has been almost totally ignored by the mainstream scientific establishment. That is, other than for ridicule.

The pictures have existed since 1976, when the Viking I space probe first viewed the Face and other mysterious monuments at Cydonia. The explanation presented here was originally developed 1991. The first edition of this book was published and copyrighted in photocopy form in 1994. The last editorial revision of this book was in early 1998.

Since that time, NASA's space probe, Mars Global Surveyor, has rephotographed the Face. The original release of the photograph appeared merely as a jumble of rocks, confirming the claim, made two decades before, that the Face was only 'a trick of light and shadow.' However, within days, NASA generated another, more accurate version of the same image. This one definitely showed the features of a humanlike face: an eye, an eye socket, a nose, even nostrils. The landform was framed with a smooth curving edge to the north and a straight edge to the west. If this picture had been shown first to the public, surely the media reaction would have been quite different.

Secular historians will have trouble finding a logical explanation for NASA's behavior. If NASA is totally open, why release the infamous 'catbox' image to deceive the public? If NASA is under total conspiracy, why release the second image which plainly shows the details of a sculpted face? There is no consistency. Yet here in this book, if you read Chapter 11, The Spiritual Conspiracy, you will find an explanation for NASA's behavior which accounts for past inconsistency and which predicts future inconsistent behavior as well. NASA scientists do not consciously want to deceive. Nonetheless, they will be led into deception.

Yet it is difficult to see how the deception can long continue. At the time of this writing (early 1999), MGS is still orbiting Mars and could rephotograph Cydonia any day now. NASA scientists might argue that they're " . . . too busy to waste more time with such foolishness." But just recently, the MGS team released an image of the crater Galle, whose sole geological interest is that it resembles the image of a 1970s American pop- culture 'Happy Face' button. If NASA has time to spend on that frivolity, it can certainly rephotograph Cydonia -- which, as an ancient ocean shoreline, certainly has inherent geologic interest apart from the nature of the monuments themselves.

So 'Realization Day' could come. Perhaps this year. Maybe next. Or, it could just be a slow, gradual acceptance of the truth. It's hard to see how the truth could remain under wraps much longer than another decade. Technologically speaking, Mars is simply becoming too accessible.

You can find more recent news about Mars and Mars Global Surveyor at my web site, The Cydonia Files. Also, The Cydonia Update page keeps up with breaking news about Mars and space. If you've come here from The Cydonia Files, you'll find that the first three chapters amplify and expand upon the material summarized. After the first three chapters, new ground is covered.

Joe Schembrie United States of America, Earth Second/Third Millennium

TIPS FOR ON-LINE BROWSING OF A BOOK

Browsing a book is somewhat different than browsing an article or short news story on the Web. Here are tips for optimizing your on-line book-browsing experience.

1. You can of course scroll down the document using your mouse on the scroll bar. But for a 'more booklike' experience, I recommend paging down with the PgDn key instead. The 3-PgDn key on your numeric keypad is the most convenient key for this. Remember to first press the NumLock key (above the 7-Home key on the numeric pad).

2. The typical browser user has only half the screen available for viewing web pages. The other half of the screen is taken up by what might be called 'Bar Creep' -- status bars, menu bars, and tool bars. You can best expand the viewable area on your screen by hiding the browser tool bar. Do this by selecting Options on the browser menu, then click on the submenu item, Show Toolbar. To get the tool bar back, just click on Show Toolbar again when you're done.

3. Bookmark the contents page ASAP and make a mental appointment to read a chapter every time you sit down to surf the web. The changed color of the visited links serves as your electronic bookmark in the text.