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From: Mac Tonnies <Alintelbot@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 00:55:28 -0500 (EST)
Fwd Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 02:07:41 -0500
Subject: Cydonian Imperative: 'Dolphin' Features

{The following is a revision of an earlier essay dealing only
with the feature dubbed the "Coat hanger" by Stanley McDaniel.
I've since been looking closer at the large dolphin outline
located near the City area and decided to offer my thoughts.
--Mac}


Dolphin-like Features at Cydonia

by Mac Tonnies

1. The Problem with Profiles

The so-called "Coat hanger" feature was one of several
relatively small-scale anomalies discovered on the pictures
returned by the Mars Global Surveyor.  Located to the lower left
of the "Face," the "Coat hanger" is most immediately interesting
because of the unexplained "tracks" found at its base.  The
markings have a very high albedo, and while no definitive
geological explanation has been put forward, it's possible that
the "tracks" may be composed of water ice.  (Similar bright
marking can be found nearby on the irregularly shaped mesa next
to the Face, and still others can be seen near the "tip" of the
"City Pyramid" formation.)

So far, speculation regarding the Coat hanger's potential
artificiality has been limited to the tracks' unusual linear
configuration and unexplained albedo.  But it has also been
noticed that the "Coat hanger" feature itself is interesting in
that it very closely resembles a bottle- nosed dolphin seen in
profile.

Usually a feature of this sort would be dismissed; like the
spattering of mud NASA has called "Kermit the Frog," all sorts
of creatures seem to appear on the Martian surface in profile.
While the Face was originally explained away for much the same
reason, it has since been demonstrated, using data from both
Viking and MGS, that it is a three- dimensional formation that
retains facial aspects under a variety of lighting conditions
and viewing angles.

2.  Anomalous Characteristics

Why, then, is the Coat hanger an exception?  In my opinion, the
dolphin resemblance bears a closer look for the following
reasons:

1.) Presence of previously mentioned "tracks" running parallel
to "dolphin" shape.

2.) Proximity to Face.  If the Face is artificial, then it's
reasonable to presume that its builders left other artifacts in
the same area.  This contention has been born out by the
presence of large anomalous surface formations such as the
"Fort," "Cliff," "Tholus," and "D&M Pyramid," as well as a
number of smaller (below Viking resolution) features revealed by
the MGS that exhibit unusual characteristics.

3.) Apparent modified terrain.  As in the case with the "Cliff"
and "Crater Pyramid," the Coat hanger/Dolphin feature sits very
near an apparent impact crater.  Furthermore, there is a shallow
groove running through the crater that appears to be a
continuation of a more prominent, triangular "cut" located to
the immediate left of the Coat hanger.

The reason why certain Martian crater rims appear to have been
excavated in the distant past is unknown, though it's been
suggested that the builders had a limited reliance on subsurface
water and constructed facilities to exploit subsurface material
uprooted by impact.  The best examples of this hypothesis are
the tunnel-like features extending from a crater directly south
of the aforementioned Crater Pyramid, which may be the remains
of an attempt to mine ice from the Martian surface.  (This
theory provides a potentially interesting vantage on the
time-frame of the Cydonian builders as well.)

4.) Associated anomaly.  Aside from the Face, the Coat hanger is
positioned directly above a bright, circular dome, probably
composed of the same material as the Coat hanger and "tracks."
This domed feature exhibits a very high albedo, possibly due to
ice.  How, exactly, ice came to be localized in such a precise
and intentional-looking manner remains an open question.  If not
ice, then what?  Possibly the answer can only be arrived at by
ground-based exploration.

Interestingly, the bright dome in question is accompanied by a
very narrow, straight line suggesting a possible road.  This
line leads directly to the adjacent crater, and appears parallel
with the line of unexplained "tracks" that frame the bottom
portion of the proposed "dolphin."

5.) Internal detail.  I compared the shape of the Coat hanger to
that of a bottle-nosed dolphin and was interested to find that
the salient dolphin features are present in the Martian
formation.  Granted, there are not many (i.e. dorsal fin, tail,
nose), but they appear in proper proportion.  The dorsal fin is
appropriately sloped, not a random triangular feature.

I also noted what may well be an eyeball, with hints of
structure, on the "dolphin's" "head."  The "eye" is easily
identifiable as a black speck --the only variation in the
dolphin's regular albedo.  Like the dorsal fin and tail, the eye
is located precisely where it should be if the dolphin feature
is, in fact, an artificial structure designed to resemble a
dolphin (or other cetacean).

6.) Conclusion

New evidence indicates that a substantial ocean once existed in
Mars' northern hemisphere.  Indeed, it's been theorized that the
Cydonian "City" complex once sat on a shoreline, with the Face
emerging as an artificial island.  Surely the presence of a
"dolphin" next to the Face invites inquiry.  Common skeptical
argument will have it that it's absurd to see the likeness of a
terrestrial animal on another planetary surface, to which I say,
"What of it?"  The Face, after all, appears human (or humanoid),
and has successfully passed every test for artificiality posed
to it thus far, using images from a variety of sun angles and
resolutions.

While I am of the opinion that a definitive assessment of
Cydonia will probably have to await a manned presence on Mars, I
think the odds for Cydonia's anomaly being exclusively natural
are arbitrarily low.  Once the existence of probable
extraterrestrial artifacts is admitted, even as an exercise in
probability, the search for small-scale surface anomalies is
warranted.  Given the evidence above, I think the Coat hanger
formation itself, and not just its attendant "tracks," falls
into the range of "anomalous" and deserves future study.

7.) Second "Dolphin"?

Stanley McDaniel of SPSR was the first (to my knowledge) to draw
attention to the regular, concave feature near the City Pyramid.
This semi-circular (?) depression appears very evenly composed,
and is connected to a smaller rectangular depression.  The
overall configuration of these two shapes shows perfect
symmetry.  The fact that this formation appears directly below
the City Pyramid's "terrace" (a bifurcated rectangular feature
located on the Pyramid's lower left "leg") seems to imply
intentional design.

But to what purpose?  My early examinations of McDaniel's
depression were disappointing in that there seemed to be little
or no context for such a feature, assuming artificiality.
Granted, it's possibly fruitless to out-think hypothesized
Martian architects.  But rediscovering other images of the same
region may provide an answer.

The depression and its attendant rectangle are not isolated
features; they are portions of a sunken formation that
resembles, to a high degree, a dolphin or other marine mammal
seen in profile.  My immediate reaction was to reject this
resemblance as fancy, as profiles can bee seen practically
anywhere one cares to see them (see above).  But the proximity
of the "Coat hanger" (yet another dolphin-like feature) and the
depression's very artificial appearance made me look more
critically.

I now find the large dolphin-like impression more impressive
than I did before; the "depression" is, on close examination,
the proposed "dolphin's" head, the smaller rectangle its muzzle.
There is a reasonably coherent dolphin-like appearance to the
rest of the formation so as to make one wonder.  Its size alone
almost seems reason to dismiss it as a subjective mirage, but we
shouldn't forget that the Cydonian structures (if structures
they are) are _big_.  The always-hypothetical Martians (whoever
they were) built big...and evidently to last.

8.) Supporting Evidence of Artificiality

In 1999, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor took its fourth (and last)
look at Cydonia when it imaged the Main City Pyramid for the
second time, apparently to test the hypothesis than an unusual
crater in the region contained ice.  Interestingly, the crater
in question was brought to mainstream scientific attention by
SPSR itself (Malin Space Science Systems has yet to provide its
rationale for taking this fourth Cydonia photo).

Researchers noticed that the supposed ice-crater was located
approximately where the "dolphin's" blow-hole should be, raising
the fascinating possibility that the "crater" was at one time a
functioning fountain!  Coincidence or not, the dolphin feature
seems to possess some aesthetic properties consistent with what
we "know" about Cydonian architecture:

a.) It would have been plainly visible to inhabitants of the
Fort and Main City Pyramid, assuming the latter formations were
habitable structures of some kind.  And, like the Face and "Coat
hanger," it's also visible from orbit.  Its surface is
noticeably brighter than the surrounding terrain (salt
deposition?)

b.) It shares the same aquatic theme as the Coat hanger; both
appear to represent cetacean creatures with dorsal fins,
streamlined tails and proportionate heads.  Though the dolphin
depression isn't perfect, perhaps this can be accounted for by
erosion or the destructive event that evidently toppled the
Fort.

c.) Growing evidence places the City complex near a body of
water, with the Face as an island.  It's been suggested on the
MUFOR Cydonia mailing list that the dolphin depression served as
a tide-pool--in which case we're basically looking at a
desiccated empty swimming pool as viewed from orbit.

9.) Why "Dolphins"?

One may as well ask "Why a humanoid face?"  Neither formation
has a right to be on Mars, according to our current evolutionary
and exobiological paradigms.  So the presence of two (count
them!) terrestrial likenesses at Cydonia doesn't bother me as
much as one might expect.

If there is a "terrestrial connection" of some sort, and the two
dolphin features can be established as artificial, this will
certainly give us pause.  But again: artificiality is still only
a hypothesis.  The above conjectures are written purely as
exercises in reasoning; we must await future exploration.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ *********Mars: The
Cydonian Imperative*********

a mailing list devoted to the immediate implementation of manned
Mars missions and the democratization of space science,
emphasizing the strange formations found in the Cydonia Mensae
region.  This list is not affiliated with any particular Mars
advocacy group, and is intended to be as informal as possible.

To join or unsubscribe: email Mac Tonnies at alintelbot@aol.com.
Comments and questions are also welcome.

Useful websites:

Artemis Society: http://www.asi.org
Mars Society: http://www.marssociety.com
The Martian Enigmas:
http://www.psrw.com/~markc/marshome.html
Bigelow Aerospace: http://www.bigelow-aerospace.com
International Space Station:
http://shuttlenasa.gov/station/index.html
SpaceDev: http://www.spacedev.com
Think Mars: http://www.thinkmars.net
CNI News: http://www.cninews.com
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