Nexus - 0220 - New Times Magazine-pages

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of parallel lines and rectangles covering an area of almost two hundred and fifty square miles was a source of heat radiation. It is highly unlikely that a natural source of heat radiation (a geyser or « . . . a concentration of radioactive minerals under the surface, for According to Boris Bolitsky, science camapid) eucld wnate seth 1 potest qeomenie pret. Wie correspondent for Radio Moscow, just viewed over and over again, the pat efinitely loo icial; * but as for what it was, the scientist said, "I certainly don't know." before contact was lost with Pi hobos 2, According to Boris Bolitsky, science correspondent for Radio several unusual images were radioed Moscow, just before contact was lost with Phobos 2, several unusual images were radioed back to Earth, described by the back to Earth, described by the Russian Russian as “quite remarkable features". A report taken from New Ney r uw Scientist of 8 April 1989, describes the following: "The features - quite remarkable features are either on the Martian surface or in the lower atmosphere. The features are between 20 and 25 kilometers wide and do nOt TeSCT- | Saua ble any known geological formation. They are spindle-shaped and Since no coordinates for the precise location of this 'anomalous are proving to be intriguing and puzzling." feature’ have been released publicly, it is impossible to judge its — = relationship to another puzzling feature on the surface of Mars that can be seen in Mariner 9 frame 4209-75. It is also located in the equatorial area (at longitude 186.4) and has been described as “unusual indentations with radial arms protruding from a central hub", caused (according to NASA scientists) by the melting. and collapse of permafrost layers. The design of the features, bringing to mind the structure of a modern airport with a circular hub from which the long structures housing the airplane gates radiate, can be better visualised when the photograph is reversed (showing depressions as protrusions). A SHADOW ACROSS THE SURFACE OF MARS An unusual photo of a thin shadow across Mars was shown on the Russian television segment. Seen on the surface of Mars was a clearly defined dark shape that could indeed be described, as it was in the initial dispatch from Moscow, as a "thin ellipse" (this photo is a still from the Soviet television clip). It was certainly different from the shadow of Phobos recorded eighteen years ear- lier by Mariner 9. The latter cast a shadow that was a rounded ellipse and fuzzy at the edges, as would be cast by the uneven sur- face of the moonlet. The ‘anomaly’ seen in the Phobos 2 transmis- sion was a thin ellipse with very sharp rather than rounded points (the shape is known in the diamond trade as a "marquise") and the edges, rather than being fuzzy, stood out sharply against a kind of halo on the Martian surface. Dr Becklake described it as “some- thing that is between the spacecraft and Mars, because we can see the Martian surface below it,” and stressed that the object was seen both by the optical and the infrared (heat-seeking) camera. All these reasons explain why the Soviets have not suggested that the dark, "thin ellipse” might have been the shadow of the moonlet. While the image was held on the screen, Dr Becklake explained that it was taken as the spacecraft was aligning itself with Phobos (the moonlet). "As the last picture was halfway through," he said, "they [Soviets] saw something which should not be there." The Soviets, he went on to state, "have not yet released this last pic- ture, and we won't speculate on what it shows." So what was it that collided or crashed into Phobos 2? Was the space probe shot out of space for 'seeing too much’? What does the last secret frame show? In his careful words to Aviation Week & Space Technology, the chairman of the Soviet equivalent of NASA, referred to that last frame, saying, “One image appears to include an odd-shaped object between the spacecraft and Mars." This ‘highly secret’ photo was later given to the Western press by Colonel Dr Marina Popovich, a Russian astronaut and pilot who has long been interested in UFOs. At a UFO conference in 1991, Popovich gave to certain investigators some interesting Close-up view of Phobos, showing the grooved and cratered surface. Viking Orbiter photo 39B84. NEXUS ¢37 JUNE - JULY 1994