You may have thought the Face was created by aliens. It could be a possibility, but think of the research and observations of the scientists. You can't just predict something and think of a conclusion. You must go through a process of research and examinations. The scientists researched and examined the Face and was just another Martian mesa that was around Cydonia.

First of all, the image did have characteristics of a face. The text stated "a few days later NASA unveiled the image for all to see. The caption noted a "huge rock formation..which resembles a human head....formed by shawdos giving the illusion of eyes, nose, and mouth. The authors reasoned it would be a good way to engage the public and attract attention to Mars." The Face could simply have been the shadow of something or the lighting that caused it to look that way. "Although few scientists believed the Face was an alien artifact, photographing Cydonia became a priority for NASA when Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) arrived at the Red Planet in September 1997, eighteen long years after the Viking missions ended." The photograph from the Viking could have been a worse quality than now.

Secondly, the photograph that was captured in 1998 is more reliable and more efficient than the other one. This picture has a more clear view and is better to observe. "And so on April 5, 1998, when Mars Global Surveyor flew over Cydonia for the first time, Micheal Malin and his Mars Orbiter Camer (MOC) team snapped a picture ten times sharper than the original Viking photos. Thousand of anxious web surfers were waiting when the image first appeared on a JPL web site, revealing....a natural landform. There was no alien monument after all." The landform could have been created from erosion or weathering or even different types of weather or climate. In fact, maybe a closer view could have looked a different shape.

Furthermore, there was another shot taken in 2001. With an even better camera quality, which showed different types of shapes or objects, other than a face. In the text it said "On April 8, 2001, a cloudless summer day in Cydonia, Mars Global Surveyor drew close enough for a second look."

Garvin stated "We had to roll the spacecrafts 25 degrees to center the Face in the field of view. Malin's team captured an extraordinary photo using the camera's absolute maximum resolution." Each pixel in the 2001 image spans 1.56 meters, compared to 43 meters per pixel in the best 1976 Viking photo." The pixels having a better quality made the observation even better. The camera could even make the objects 3 times bigger. "As a rule of thumb, you can discern things in a digital image 3 times bigger than the pixel size, he added. So, if there were objects in this picture like airplanes on the ground or Egyptian-style pyramids or even small shacks, you could see what they were!" They were trying to say that if it was created by aliens they could have been able to tell because of its texture or shape.

In conclusion, the Face was not created by aliens, it is just a natural landform. The Viking photo made it look like it was created by an alien because of its structure and the way it was formed and shaped and it was only because of the quality of the picture that made it seem like it was. With the more recent pictures and 10 times better quality made the scientists come to a conclusion that it was just a structure. "What the picture actually shows is the Martian equivalent of a butte or mesa- landforms common around the American West." Garvin stated "It remind me most of Middle Butte in the Snake River Plain of Idaho. That's a lava dome that takes the form of an isolated mesa about that same height as the Face on Mars."           