Free Area 51: The Reply-2 by Robert Doherty Page A
Authors: Robert Doherty
region on the north hemisphere," Sterling said.
"You know what has been photographed at Cydonia, don't you?" Nabinger said.
"Why don't you tell us?" Sterling said.
"Well, first there's what appears to be the thrust-up outline of a large face on the surface of the planet there," Nabinger said. "It was discovered in July 1976 by NASA personnel studying the images sent back by the Viking probe."
Nabinger paused but no one interrupted, so he continued. "In 1979 some computer engineers at the Goddard Space Flight Center reexamined the digital frame that held the face, then expanded the search, checking out the imagery of the immediate area.
"They found what appeared to be a pyramid close by. A pyramid, that as nearly as they could tell, was over five hundred meters high and about 75
three kilometers long on each base, easily dwarfing the Great Pyramid at Giza."
"How do you know all this?" Sterling asked, a frown on his face—whether from the fact that Nabinger had stolen his thunder or wondering if Nabinger had learned more from the guardian than he had told UNAOC, Nabinger neither knew nor cared.
"I have a friend in the most unique field of archaeoastronomy: the study of archeological objects in space. Since most people believed there were no archeological objects in space, he was rather, shall we say, ignored by the other scientists. I would imagine now, though, that his expertise is in rather strong demand. We met at a conference, and since there were some similarities between what he thought he saw on the surface of Mars and what I was investigating on the surface of the Earth at Giza, we spent some time exchanging notes."
"Go on about Cydonia," Sterling ordered.
"The face, if I remember rightly, was estimated to be about two and a half kilometers long by two wide, and I think five hundred meters high also."
"More like four hundred meters high, from shadow analysis," Sterling said.
"Four hundred meters, then," Nabinger said. "Obviously you have access to data about this. Do they have any better idea about the City?"
"City?" Gunfield asked.
Nabinger turned in his seat. "Yes. Besides the Face and the Pyramid, there was a group of what appeared to be smaller pyramids to the southwest of the face.
And an object that was called the Fort: four straight lines like walls, surrounding a
76
black courtyard. The men looking at this dubbed those pyramids and the Fort as the City."
Nabinger turned back to Sterling. "So now we know that what NASA dismissed as just shadows and natural objects, are really artifacts from the Airlia. Another Airlia colony, perhaps."
"It appears that is so," Sterling admitted. "If there was an Airlia outpost on Mars, it would also explain some facts that were dismissed as coincidence. The fact that the Russians have launched ten unmanned missions to explore Mars with very little success. Several exploded on takeoff. They lost control of two and couldn't get them out of their intermediary orbits around Earth. Two missed Mars when their guidance systems went haywire. Three made it to Mars but their probes went dead. There was one lander that the Russians managed to get there and send down. They lost data link with it as it was descending for a landing while relaying back some very confusing data."
"How about American missions to Mars?" Nabinger asked.
"Suffice it to say that they had many failures also, some public and some not so public. The Americans did manage to get their two Viking missions to the Red Planet in 1976 and get both landers down. The interesting thing about that, though, is that those landers went down a long way from Cydonia and the orbiters never went directly over that site. The one Viking satellite that is still up there does not go over the Cydonia region in its present orbit."
"What about Pathfinder?" Nabinger asked. "That was all over the news last year."
77
"Yes, indeed," Sterling said. "But it landed very far away from the Cydonia region. And the range of
"You know what has been photographed at Cydonia, don't you?" Nabinger said.
"Why don't you tell us?" Sterling said.
"Well, first there's what appears to be the thrust-up outline of a large face on the surface of the planet there," Nabinger said. "It was discovered in July 1976 by NASA personnel studying the images sent back by the Viking probe."
Nabinger paused but no one interrupted, so he continued. "In 1979 some computer engineers at the Goddard Space Flight Center reexamined the digital frame that held the face, then expanded the search, checking out the imagery of the immediate area.
"They found what appeared to be a pyramid close by. A pyramid, that as nearly as they could tell, was over five hundred meters high and about 75
three kilometers long on each base, easily dwarfing the Great Pyramid at Giza."
"How do you know all this?" Sterling asked, a frown on his face—whether from the fact that Nabinger had stolen his thunder or wondering if Nabinger had learned more from the guardian than he had told UNAOC, Nabinger neither knew nor cared.
"I have a friend in the most unique field of archaeoastronomy: the study of archeological objects in space. Since most people believed there were no archeological objects in space, he was rather, shall we say, ignored by the other scientists. I would imagine now, though, that his expertise is in rather strong demand. We met at a conference, and since there were some similarities between what he thought he saw on the surface of Mars and what I was investigating on the surface of the Earth at Giza, we spent some time exchanging notes."
"Go on about Cydonia," Sterling ordered.
"The face, if I remember rightly, was estimated to be about two and a half kilometers long by two wide, and I think five hundred meters high also."
"More like four hundred meters high, from shadow analysis," Sterling said.
"Four hundred meters, then," Nabinger said. "Obviously you have access to data about this. Do they have any better idea about the City?"
"City?" Gunfield asked.
Nabinger turned in his seat. "Yes. Besides the Face and the Pyramid, there was a group of what appeared to be smaller pyramids to the southwest of the face.
And an object that was called the Fort: four straight lines like walls, surrounding a
76
black courtyard. The men looking at this dubbed those pyramids and the Fort as the City."
Nabinger turned back to Sterling. "So now we know that what NASA dismissed as just shadows and natural objects, are really artifacts from the Airlia. Another Airlia colony, perhaps."
"It appears that is so," Sterling admitted. "If there was an Airlia outpost on Mars, it would also explain some facts that were dismissed as coincidence. The fact that the Russians have launched ten unmanned missions to explore Mars with very little success. Several exploded on takeoff. They lost control of two and couldn't get them out of their intermediary orbits around Earth. Two missed Mars when their guidance systems went haywire. Three made it to Mars but their probes went dead. There was one lander that the Russians managed to get there and send down. They lost data link with it as it was descending for a landing while relaying back some very confusing data."
"How about American missions to Mars?" Nabinger asked.
"Suffice it to say that they had many failures also, some public and some not so public. The Americans did manage to get their two Viking missions to the Red Planet in 1976 and get both landers down. The interesting thing about that, though, is that those landers went down a long way from Cydonia and the orbiters never went directly over that site. The one Viking satellite that is still up there does not go over the Cydonia region in its present orbit."
"What about Pathfinder?" Nabinger asked. "That was all over the news last year."
77
"Yes, indeed," Sterling said. "But it landed very far away from the Cydonia region. And the range of
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