The discussion frames these images within a remarkable week of apparent disclosure. Sir Arthur C. Clarke stated publicly that he is fairly convinced large forms of life have been discovered on Mars, referencing photographs from JPL. Senator John Glenn, appearing on the sitcom Frasier, delivered an unscripted monologue about astronauts being told to stay quiet about strange things seen in space. Richard connects both statements to the 1959 Brookings Report, which recommended a generational program of public conditioning before revealing extraterrestrial contact.
Richard speculates that biological engineering by an ancient Martian civilization could explain structures that appear both technological and organic. He outlines how a manned Mars mission could cost as little as ten billion dollars using nuclear-powered MHD plasma engines, and suggests President Bush's trillion-dollar contingency fund may quietly include such plans.
Key Moments
John Glenn on Frasier: 'we never gave the real answer': Art quotes Senator John Glenn's appearance the previous night on Frasier, where in a comedy bit Glenn says astronauts were asked to deny seeing strange things in space, that bosses feared a War of the Worlds panic, and now those things only show up in nightmares and movies that come close to the truth.
Hoagland's NASA dream after the Clarke statement: Hoagland says, against his usual left-brain habits, he had a vivid dream after Clarke's Sri Lanka statement in which two senior NASA officials, one familiar and one not, stepped forward at headquarters or JPL to officially affirm what Clarke had said.
Arthur C. Clarke: 'I'm fairly convinced we have discovered life on Mars': Hoagland reads Sir Arthur C. Clarke's February 25 statement, made in Sri Lanka with Buzz Aldrin sitting beside him: that JPL photographs are pretty convincing proof of large forms of life on Mars and that he sees no other interpretation.
Hoagland traces Clarke's escalation from London Times to Sri Lanka: Hoagland walks through Clarke's chronology: a September 2000 London Times op-ed describing Mars Global Surveyor images of bushes and gigantic glass worms, a December Pasadena event where Clarke pushes for an explanation of the glass worm, and finally his late February statement that there is large life on Mars.
Hoagland's glass tunnel: a mile long, 600 feet wide, near Cydonia: Hoagland describes finding the image while surveying near Cydonia in the 60,000-image Malin dump: a translucent, glass-sheathed tube about 600 feet wide and 4,500 to 5,000 feet long, sitting in a crevasse in what was once Mars's northern ocean, with a sun glint off something he speculates is an abandoned transport car.