People today and years before us have always wandered if there has been life on Mars. With one photo taken of a mysterious figure, people think they have come closer than ever to knowing if there was life long before us on another planet. "Unmasking the Face on Mars" is a topic commonly talked about. Some say the Face was created by aliens, while others say it is the natural landform that caused it. Pictures were taken, and a conclusion have been made whether or not aliens created it, or if it was caused by a natural landform.

In 1976, Viking 1 was orbiting Mars to find a landing space for their sister ship, Viking 2.

While scouting out Mars, Viking 1 comes across an image that could likely show life on Mars. The pictured appeared to be a face, but was debated for a long time. A couple years later in 1998, the Mars Global surveyor (MGS) took a shot of the "Face" which revealied a naural landform.

The image shot in 1998 was ten times shaper and more clear than the one taken in 1976. Once the second picture was taken, it was released to the JPL web site showing all, that it was caused by natural landforms and that aliens were not the case. People began to say that the aliens were hidden by a haze since the camera it was taken with had to zoom through the clouds in order to take the shot. The people needed specific evidence to believe that aliens do not exist, so the MGS did just that.

To prove to all the people, a third picture was taken in 2001 by the MGS. The image was shot with the most powerful resolution. It showed the mysterious figure on Mars turned out to be a butte or mesa. These were landforms comman in the American West. With the high quality picture we now know that life on Mars never existed, and the so called "Face" was formed over time by natural landforms.