Orientation of the Face

How should we go about hanging the oval Face on a wall?  Its outer perimeter is mostly
directionless, but, there is a big rectangle within. The two lines emanating from the top
left corner of the rectangle are especially noteworthy for how they form a visually perfect
right angle. If this rectangle were a canvas, its sides would automatically set the horizontal,
and the vertical orientations.

                        
                       diagram 1

This right angle, whose lines propagate far into the face, sets our main directions.
It was the best directional clue I could find.  Others like doctor Carlotto solved the
problem of orientation differently (more on that later).

The Bounding Rectangle of the Face on Mars

We must have chosen the directions of axes correctly, this way the Face on Mars
fits into a bounding rectangle like the one below. Its idea is both simple and beautiful:
It is a stack of three golden rectangles - one horizontal, and two vertical.

                diagram 2           

Second Instance of Stacked Golden rectangles

If we shorten the bounding rectangle of the face down a level to the top
line of  the rectangle inside the oval frame, it is the same as if we removed
the top two rectangles from the original stack of three, and then doubled the
remaining horizontal rectangle.
The idea of this rectangle is two golden rectangles stacked horizontally.


diagram 3

In other words, if we run exploratory straight lines as implied by the Face,
the resulting grid forms rectangles in an exact geometrical relationship,
invoking the Golden Section.

The shortened bounding rectangle:   3 outer perimeter lines, 1 second perimeter line
  diagram 4                            

More Golden Rectangles

§  The rectangle based on the prominent right angle, and extending to the base
    of the Face - is a golden rectangle  ( 3 second perimeter lines, 1 outer perimeter line).

§ Each vertical line of the second perimeter slices a golden rectangle off the big
  bounding rectangle of the face.

The base and  the top of the Face end in beautiful arcs, and the centers of these arcs
seem to be on the long axis of symmetry of the Face.
diagram 5                 
 All in all, these are extraordinary findings. The Face on Mars is a fascinating geometric
composition on the Golden Section, entirely in the spirit of golden section based works
of art, or architecture. Peru's Nasca Monkey, the palaeolithic Athena from La Marche,
France, or the Egyptian Abydos Helicopter come to mind.

Versions of the Face on Mars


The Picasso Version

I began my explorations on the Face using MGS 70A13, a high resolution image
of the Face taken on April 5, 1998.

                    
diagram 6
I thought that I should disclose my initial findings on a relevant internet discussion
group. In fact, this brought on a surprising response from Mac Tonnies - a well
known expert on the Face, and other Martian mysteries - my version of the image
was known as the Picasso face due to serious distortion from its orthorectification
by the MSSS (Malin Space Science Systems) on behalf of NASA.
So, my first visit to NASA's website had somehow steered me into downloading
the wrong face - the Picasso face- with the lure of high resolution. Back I went until
I found and downloaded the up-to-date, and state-of-art orthorectified image of the
Face by MSSS - the MGS E03-00824, taken on April 8th, 2001. This image is my
present basis for analysis.

We can easily spot the distortion, when comparing the above Picasso version to
the others based on MGS E03-00824. One thing though, while grossly distorted
on the inside, the MGS 70A13 image is fairly accurate on the outside. That is why
my original solution for its overall shape remains unchanged. The bounding rectangle
is a stack of three golden rectangles, and when trimmed to the long straight line above
the forehead, it becomes a stack of two golden rectangles, the same as before. Still,
the inner symmetry is lost. For instance, the broken cyan line in the diagram along
with the corresponding terrain should be, where the broken green line is.

What Mac Tonnies says about the Picasso on his website:

The above may all be true in relation to Parker's so called 'Picasso' version, but that
version is no longer NASA's 'final word'. 

Dr. Carlotto's Rival Orthorectification of the Face

Interestingly, Mac Tonnies and many others maintain the view that the most correct
orthorectification of the face is the one done by Dr. Carlotto.  In contrast, Dr. Tom
Flanders, or Lan Fleming say the same about the MSSS version of the same April 2001
MGS image.

There Can Only be One

Apparently, we have two correct version, because both versions are widely accepted
by the community of those interested in the Face. I wonder how many realize that the
two versions are vastly different. For instance, MSSS's platform of the Face is quite a
bit more elongated.
                   
At this point in our deliberation things get really interesting. Which of the two versions
is correctly orthorectified, if any at all? And what is all this ado about?

In 1998, Carlotto and Brandenburg had analyzed the high resolution orthorectified 
MGS image of the Face from April 5, 1998, and found it highly symmetrical, despite
high erosion on the right side of the platform.
Carlotto later did his own orthorectification of the image of the face from April 2001.
He then concluded: In analyzing MGS image E03-00824 we have found the Face
to possess a very high degree of symmetry in twodirections and to contain subtle
indications of an underlying geometrical plan based on rectangles having a long
to short side ratio of 4/3.
These new findings render previous criticisms concerning artificiality moot; i.e.,
that the Face cannot be a face and thus cannot be artificial because it doesn't look
like a face. That our constructions seem to sugggest a simple yet elegant geometry
at a high level of confidence is difficult to explain as the result of some unknown
naturally occuring random process on Mars. The hypothesis that the Face on Mars
is a highly symmetrical artificial object that appears as it does today due to effects
of erosion and dilapidation is simpler and more plausible than the hypothesis that
it is a natural landform.

Seriousness of the Issue

Inclusion of scientific geometry in extraordinary architecture on Mars? Surely,
this issue deserves closer attention? Yet, attention it does not get. Why?
It occurs to me that scientific community may be well aware of the discrepance
between the MSSS and the Carlotto versions regarding the shape of the Face.
Should the MSSS version be more accurate then Carlotto's scientific geometry
would by default fall on its face! I am afraid, that is why this matter is not taken
more seriously. Scientists are too busy laughing. Even if the symmetry remains,
it loses its luster. No one realizes that the NASA version also inheres architecture
based upon the science of geometry.

My Vantage Point

Suppose that NASA's MSSS version is the correct one, and Carlotto's is for some
reason distorted. Why did Carlotto not do a routine check on the NASA version?
Was he not curious about what properties its symmetry might have? It would have
led him straight to the system of golden rectangles I had found there.
Let me point out that the Golden Rectangle is far more interesting than the 3/4 rectangle,
as the subject of any prehistoric code. Note, how nicely the Face on Mars as a design
of golden rectangles fits in with the rest of my findings on the golden section being the
prevalent basis for mathematically encoded prehistoric art. Most recently, it fits in with
my solution to the controversy over the so called Abydos Helicopter.
From my unique vantage point, the real geometrical message behind the Face on Mars
has been deftly withheld from unsuspecting public view amidst antics and fanfare.
Seeking to dismiss the Face as a potential artifact',  - remember the words?
Regarding the role of Dr. Carlotto in this case, there are some inconsistencies. Number
One is the lack of Carlotto's recognition of the golden rectangle system in the NASA
version. Yet, he easily recognized a comparable system in his own edition of the Face.
http://www.newfrontiersinscience.com/Members/v01n01/a/NFS0101a_1.shtml
Moreover, as I see it,  Carlotto's bounding rectangle exceeds the physical limit of the
Face at the top by just a little bit. And why not? After all, Carlotto tries to fit in an idea
he got from the Face itself. It is natural that he tries to make the two fit as best he can.
I haven't done anything different. There was an a priori assumption I had about the
geometry of the Face, what it should be, if it was to amount to anything, and I did my
best to fit that idea to the actual Face.  Yes, as luck would have it, my efforts resulted
in a closer fit than Carlotto's.

   
diagram 7                                                                    diagram 8
NASA's latest version is on the left, Dr. Carlotto's version is on the right. It is
apparent that Carlotto did not avail himself of the clearly rectangular features
at the top left of the big shield to establish his bearings like we have done.
Everything remains largely the same in both versions, but the Carlotto version is
shortened along the long axis.

Checking Out the System in Carlotto's Version

In Favor of the NASA Version - The Corner, and the Gable

We came up with a system of golden rectangles from the NASA version. We did
not get such a system in the Carlotto version, although we found one major golden
rectangle there. Because of this conflicting evidence, we might hope for some
confirmation of our diagnosis of the subject of Golden Rectangles.


diagram 10
Indeed, the right angled corner, which sets our orientation is facing on the short
side a corner, which looks sort of like a gable on a haunted Martian house (general
view above, detail below). The inside of the corner even serves to position another
line of the second bounding rectangle. In Carlotto's interpretation, this corner plays
no special role.


diagram 11
What is the significance of this gable to the subject of golden rectangles?

The inside top corner of the gable is part of the golden grid.
The gable is rectangular at the top, and is oriented to the diagonals of the golden
rectangles in this particular system.
One line of the gable is the same as the main diagonal of the system, and one
major line of the grid is the gable's vertical axis.
Summary - This gable supports our identification of golden rectangles, as
the intended subject matter in the design.

Testing Dr. Carlotto's Orientation


diagram 12
Since Dr. Carlotto has marked his central axes into the image above, we can
compare his and our bounding rectangles, and verify his claim that the width
to height ratio of the Face is  3:4.  In our measuring we get the ratio of 0.762,
which is very close to being 3:4, so Carlotto was correct in this aspect.
To get symmetrical boundaries to the sides of the long central axis, we must
use the inside edge of the upper bounding line, and the outside edge of the
bottom bounding line.
Note, how Carlotto's bounding line diverges both from the landmark's bottom
side, and from the .

Poor Fit

The below diagram illustrates the imperfect fit of Carlotto's bounding rectangle
over the top of the Face using his own centre of symmetry. Note the big gap
between the face and the bounding rectangle. In contrast, there is no such gap
between the golden rectangle and the Face in my solution.

diagram 13

Faces on Mars - Is the King a Pawn?

From: Mac Tonnies
To: UFO UpDates - Toronto <ufoupdates@sympatico.ca>
Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 14:33:16 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Mars Photos From Dr. Tom Van Flandern

What a chain of coincidences  - The King and I !
I got to UFO UpDates, because I was letting MUFON know about my solution to
the Abydos Helicopter enigma involving golden rectangles. Soon after, on July the 4th,
there was a most interesting post by Mac Tonnies, whose headers are given above.
Mac Tonnies says that Van Flandern had dreamed up some novel art on Mars:)
The human tendency to see faces in everything is in the sphere of my scientific
curiosity, and both Mac Tonnies' and Van Flandern's sites are well worth visiting.

http://www.mactonnies.com/imperative18.html

  

http://barsoom.msss.com/moc_gallery/ab1_m04/images/M0203051.html
While looking at the above 'non-existent' face from Van Flandern's site, I realized that
I have already seen it somewhere. Indeed, it apppears that my high-school grad picture
passes the grade as a close replica of the non-existent face on Mars, known as the Space
King, or the Crowned Face. 
I have tested my impression by involving a number of friends in a ruse. Told that using
Photoshop,  I have transported the face on the right to the photo on the left, they were
asked, if they could still tell that the face originated from the face on the right.
Most had claimed that they did indeed recognize the fact. "Wait, isn't that you? 
My grad pic resembles the face on Mars more than it resembles my old self..
Next:
Seeing my grad picture on Mars gave me a priori expectations of golden rectangles in
the Face on Mars - this would be a natural progression to a series of coincidences as is
usual in the cases of divine guidance. Golden rectangles tend to be artificial, could I find
golden rectangles in the Face on Mars?
And if I could - could I go back to the face which is so much like my grad picture, and
expect that the rectangle above its forehead should fit a golden rectangle?
Supposing that all that came to pass, could I meet the deadline of producing this revised
article for the day, when Mars comes the closest to Earth in 60,000 years?
That is today, August 27th, 2003. The coincidences culminate in the public getting a
better view into the mystery of the Face on Mars.

Author's qualifications and entitlement to discussing the Face on Mars

Some people will question me: Who are you to claim a rival geometrical solution to
the Face on Mars? Are you a Phd. like Dr. Carlotto?  Well, no, folks. But, tell me:
Does Dr. Carlotto have a facsimile of his grad picture on Mars like I do?

Faces in the King's Face

The King's left eye is at the same time the right eye of another face with
a cross between the eyes. You can't miss it. Actually, there are two crosses,
an upright white cross between the eyes, and the dark cross, where the latter
almost looks like a shadow cast by the former.

    x           

The female profile below is also an element of the same area.

                              

The area is shown upside down in image M0303483.gif
fttp://barsoom.msss.com/moc_gallery/ab1_m04/maps/M0303483.gif


More golden rectangles in strange places

n

July 13, 2003  © Jiri Mruzek   Vancouver, BC, Canada