This image appears to show a wrench on Mars, but it is merely a rock
Brian Cory Dobbs Productions
Blue Planet Red
Directed by Brian Cory Dobbs, Available on Amazon Prime Video
Blue Planet Red claims to present a documentary about Mars. The planet depicted by director Brian Cory Dobbs isn’t what we might recognize, yet it remains intriguing: it was once inhabited by an advanced civilization of pyramid builders, who either failed to prevent their world’s demise or obliterated it in a cataclysmic nuclear war.
Dobbs passionately presents his beliefs regarding advanced Martian life directly to the camera, punctuating his points with expressive pauses. I found him rather engaging. However, I was not surprised to learn, after seeing his film, that his showreel partly includes dubious material (unquestionably questionable videos concerning mobile devices, electromagnetic waves, and cancer).
Whether intentional or not, Blue Planet Red serves as a historical artifact: a final salute from a generation of researchers and enthusiasts shaped by the shadow of a 2-kilometer mesa in Mars’s Cydonia region. In 1976, NASA’s Viking orbiters captured hazy images of what appeared to be a colossal human face: the infamous Face on Mars.
Rather than spend excessive time on long-refuted claims, let’s acknowledge they’ve been sufficiently debunked elsewhere. Enhance the image clarity, and the ‘face’ vanishes. Rocks mistaken for tools and bones are simply that: rocks. The existence of xenon-129 in Mars’ atmosphere suggests ancient nuclear warfare only if one disregards the well-known process by which the now-extinct iodine-129 isotope would have transformed into xenon-129 in Mars’s swiftly cooling lithosphere.
“
The Viking orbiters’ ambiguous data was the perfect growth medium for fantastical ideas
“
Nevertheless, it’s touching to capture the idées fixes of a bygone era of researchers. Featured in the film are Richard Brice Hoover, who led astrobiology research at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center until his retirement in 2011 and contributed to showcasing the existence of extremophiles on Earth. He firmly believes he has identified microfossils within Martian meteorites. Despite his passion, Hoover fails to clarify in this film why each supposed fossil rests atop the rock sample instead of being encased within it.
Another contributor, John Brandenburg, is a respected plasma scientist, provided one can steer him away from discussing Martian nuclear conflicts. Then there’s Mark Carlotto, who has spent 40 years spotting signs of ancient civilization on Mars where most see mere rocks. On the ground, however, he proves to be a skilled archaeologist.
Following the last Apollo lunar landing in 1972, the initial thrill of the space race began to diminish. The images transmitted back by the Viking orbiters held the promise of groundbreaking discoveries. Their blurred information became fertile soil for extravagant theories, particularly in the United States, where the Vietnam War and Watergate fueled skepticism and conspiracy.
Dobbs’ flashy recounting of fanciful Martian narratives concentrates on events from 3.7 billion years ago, when a moist, temperate planet transformed into an arid wasteland. For me, the film is less about historical science and more about the fate of a group of enthusiasts, captivated by monitors and magazines in the 1970s. Let’s momentarily set aside our scorn and engage with this generation. Such optimistic aspirations are unlikely to mislead insightful minds again.
Simon additionally recommends…
Mapping Mars
Oliver Morton
This investigation of Martian landscapes illustrates how human vision, enhanced by optical technology, has clarified our neighboring planet.
The Mars Project (1953)
Wernher von Braun
The US-German (and Nazi) rocket scientist drew inspiration from Antarctic expeditions in this pioneering technical outline for a human mission to Mars.
Simon Ings is both a novelist and science writer. Connect with him on X @simonings
Topics:
