In 1976 the first image of "The Face on Mars" was captured. NASA's Viking 1 was circling the planet when it spotted the likeness of a human face. Nearly two miles from end to end the face was from a region called Cydonia. Scientists figured it was just another mesa, landforms common in this area. When NASA released the picture to the public it became a pop icon. Some people think the Face is evidence of life on Mars, however, NASA disagrees.

Conspiracy theorists feel that the Face's true reason for existence is something that NASA would rather hide. In the mean time NASA's budget defenders wish there was an ancient civilization on Mars. Finding such a thing would greatly benefit NASA and hel them in many ways. Therefore, if the Face really was proof of life on Mars, NASA wouldn't be hiding it, they would be announcing it for their own good.

On April 5,1998, Michael Malin and his Mars Orbiter Camera team snapped another picture ten times sharper than the original photos. The new image first appeared on the JPL web site, revealing that the Face was in fact a natural landform, not an acient alien civilization. However, conspiracy theorists were still not satisfied due to the fact that it was a cloudy time of the year on Mars. NASA prepared to look again and captured a final picture on April 8,2001. What the pictured shows is a mesa, landforms common around the American West.

Of the three images NASA snapped of the Face, none of them show any alien monuments or civilizations. The increased pixel sizes would have picked up any objects on the ground such as pyramids or planes. There is no reason for NASA to believe they discovered anything other than a common natural landform. The only difference is that this landform has unusual shadows that make it look like an Egyptian Pharaoh.