April 27, 1998: New Mars Images - Dr. Tom Van Flandern

Art Bell welcomes astronomer Dr. Tom Van Flandern to discuss newly enhanced images of the Cydonia region on Mars. Van Flandern holds a doctorate from Yale in celestial mechanics and has spent his career studying the moon and planets. He shares his reaction to the latest photographs from Mars Global Surveyor, which Art describes as the first images that made the anomalous features visible even to his untrained eye.

The conversation covers features found across three photographic strips of Cydonia, including structures with right angles, symmetry, and building-like characteristics that Van Flandern says are unlike anything seen elsewhere in the solar system. He explains that the odds against the facial features arising naturally exceed a billion to one, based on fulfilled predictions confirmed by the higher-resolution imagery. He also discusses competing cosmological models and his skepticism of the Big Bang theory.

Van Flandern warns that NASA must photograph Cydonia again within months before the orbit shifts to higher altitudes and sun angles worsen. He notes that the next two Mars missions carry no cameras, meaning this window may be the only chance to resolve the question of artificiality in their lifetimes.