Government1976

Viking 1 photographs the 'Face on Mars'

When: 25 Jul 1976
Sources: 3 public sources

The Viking 1 image of the Cydonia mesa called the 'Face on Mars' Viking 1, NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

NASA's Viking 1 orbiter photographed a mesa in Mars's Cydonia region whose shadows looked like a human face; NASA's 1976 caption called it an illusion. NASA says geologists attribute the landform to natural processes, and Mars Global Surveyor imaged it at ten times the resolution in 1998.

Sources

OfficialThe 'Face on Mars' (Viking 1 Orbiter image, July 25, 1976) (opens in a new tab)NASA Science / 1976-07-31
OfficialGeologic 'Face on Mars' Formation (PIA01141) (opens in a new tab)NASA/JPL Photojournal / 1998-04-02
OfficialFace on Mars (Mars Global Surveyor image, April 5, 1998) (opens in a new tab)NASA Science / 1998-04-06

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Where it fits

Earlier in GovernmentProject Blue Book records opened at the National Archives1976 Later in GovernmentMorocco sightings reported in U.S. embassy cable19 Sep 1976

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