Richard C. Hoagland
Richard C. Hoagland | |
---|---|
Born | April 25, 1945 |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Theories about extraterrestrial civilizations; accusations that NASA is a corrupt and mendacious agency |
Partner | Robin Falkov |
Website | http://www.enterprisemission.com http://www.darkmission.net |
Richard C. Hoagland (born April 25, 1945) is an American author and a proponent of various conspiracy theories about NASA, lost alien civilizations on the Moon and on Mars and other related topics. Claims from his personal biography[1] and publication[2] include having been curator for a science museum in Springfield Massachusetts at age 19 in the mid-60s.[3] Hoagland does not have any scientific training.
His writings claim that advanced civilizations exist or once existed on the moon, Mars and on some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and that NASA and the United States government have conspired to keep these facts secret. He has advocated his ideas in two published books, several videotapes,[4][5][6] lectures,[7] interviews,[8][9] and press conferences.[10] His views have never been published in peer-reviewed journals[11]. Hoagland has been labeled by James Oberg of The Space Review and Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy as a conspiracy theorist and fringe thinker.[12][13]
Background
Hoagland claims that he served as a curator of astronomy & space science[14] at the Springfield Science Museum, located at The Quadrangle in Springfield, Massachusetts, and claims that he was a consultant to CBS News during the Apollo program.[3] Walter Cronkite has since called Hoagland's views "hocus pocus nonsense."[15] Hoagland appears regularly as a Science Adviser[16] on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. Hoagland has also appeared on the BBC programs UFO Evidence & Conspiracy, and Mysteries in Space. Hoagland co-produced[3] a radio program on WTIC (AM) of Hartford, Connecticut, The Night of the Encounter, which covered the July 14, 1965, Mariner 4 flyby of the planet Mars.[note 1] Hoagland authored the book The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever, and co-authored the book Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA,[17] which was ranked 21st on the New York Times Best Seller list for Paperback Nonfiction for one week on November 18, 2007.[18]
Hoagland operates a website, Enterprise Mission, which he terms "an independent NASA watchdog and research group attempting to figure out how much of what NASA has found in the solar system over the past 50 years has actually been silently filed out of sight as classified material". In late 2007, Hoagland released the recording[6] of a National Press Club press conference held on October 30, 2007[19] in which Hoagland and whistleblower Ken Johnston announced that Johnston was ordered to destroy Apollo lunar images and data 40 years ago. Johnston states that he secretly preserved these Apollo images in a private album of "about 1000 old NASA photos and other memorabilia" from his time at NASA,[20] and some of these images were printed and discussed along with Johnston's story in the Dark Mission book.[21] In December 2007, Project Camelot released a 3-part ~3 hour interview with Hoagland[9] where he talks about "the secret history of NASA", he shows lunar images and elaborates on his various claims about the moon, and he talks about a variety of topics such as "hyperdimensional physics", ancient monuments, the Vatican, consciousness, and the year 2012.
In 1997, Hoagland received the Ig Nobel Award for Astronomy.[22] In November 2006, Conscious Media Network interviewed Hoagland.[23] In November 2009, Hoagland spoke at the Secrets! 2009 Conference.[24] Hoagland spoke about his "Hyperdimensional Physics", how "4D-hyperspace" governs cohesion in seemingly random 3D-physical reality events. Hoagland has made numerous claims about the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, supported by digitally reprocessed photographic evidence from planetary exploration and testimonials by former government and military officials. During guest appearances on Coast to Coast AM With George Noory, Hoagland references longstanding friendships with scientists from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who, according to Hoagland, provide him with inside information. However, on the 21 and 22 August 2008 radio show he stated "we do not depend on sources, when I say so-and-so source told me, I have additional confirmation from another mechanism, usually the physics and terms of numbers that backs up with what our source or sources have told us."
Hyperdimensional physics
Hoagland has proposed a form of physics he calls 'hyperdimensional physics'[25][26] which, supported by the work of Thomas E. Bearden,[27] he claims to represent the full implementation of James Clerk Maxwell's original 20 quaternion equations,[28] instead of the reduced Maxwell's equations as amended by Oliver Heaviside commonly taught today.
A tenet of these views holds that vast amounts of energy originating from dimensions we cannot perceive are available at latitudes 19.5° both south and north on the Sun and every planet in the solar system. Hoagland points to the colossal volcano, Olympus Mons, on Mars as the supreme example. The center of Olympus Mons is at 18.3°N 227°E.and the massive shield spans 16°N to 20°N, as shown in the photograph.[29] According to Hoagland,[30] an essential prediction of his theory is that a massive planet is yet to be discovered in the solar system. Hyperdimensional physics is not taught in any recognized institution of learning anywhere in the world, and 19.5° energy on planet Earth has never been demonstrated.[note 2]
Mars, Face on Mars, and Cydonia
On July 25, 1976, Tobias Owen put a magnifying glass over Viking Orbiter 1 frame 35A72 and first saw the so-called Face on Mars in the Cydonia region of the planet.[citation needed][relevant?]
Hoagland claims "the Face on Mars" is part of a city built on Cydonia Planitia consisting of very large pyramids and mounds arranged in a geometric pattern, with the ratios between measured angles roughly equaling mathematical constants such as pi, e, and the square root of 2. He states that the ratio between the surface area of a sphere and the surface area of the tetrahedron inscribed within it, 2.720699 (pi x square root of 3 / 2), is an approximation of e that Hoagland refers to as e'. Since e'/pi (square root of 3 / 2) is ~0.866, Hoagland speculates that the primary meaning of the geometry of Cydonia is to emphasize the ratio of the sphere and circumscribed tetrahedron.[31] To Hoagland, this is evidence that an advanced civilization might once have existed on Mars, and that NASA is suppressing the evidence for reasons explained in a Brookings Institution report entitled Proposed Studies on the Implications of Peaceful Space Activities for Human Affairs. In fact, although the report did state that it is a possibility that such information would destabilize society, it stopped short of actually recommending suppression.[32]
On April 5, 1998, the Mars Global Surveyor probe sent back better images of the Cydonia region[33] that indicated that the face was an irregularly shaped mountain. Hoagland contends these images were run through multiple filters that degraded the original image in quality, giving it a catbox appearance which obscures what is really on Mars.[34] On September 21, 2006, several new 3D views were released,[35][36] derived from the high-resolution stereo camera on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. In response to their publication Hoagland remarked "Science is not about what you can see. It's about what you can measure,", and Hoagland's co-author Mike Bara has accused the European Space Agency, which released that photo set, of fraud.[37] The image from the HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, released in April 2007, was so detailed that even Hoagland appears to have abandoned his contention that the whole structure is a face. In the epilogue to his book released the following October, he analyzes instead the details of the face mesa within the MRO frame that he says are "obviously collapsed geometric ruins [with] parallel walls, multiple, 3-D planes, twisted beams, and thin girders."[38]
Hoagland also claims that the true color of Mars is salmon red with patches of greenish plant life and a light blue sky,[39] that Mars was once the moon of a larger planet which exploded, leaving Mars isolated,[note 3][40] that the advanced civilization on Mars had prior warning of the cataclysm and so escaped via migration to planet Earth, eventually adapting to the environment and becoming the present human race,[41] and that the numerous objects surrounding the landing sites of the Mars Exploration Rovers are in fact pieces of Martian machinery.[42]
Life on Europa
Hoagland claims the theory concerning the presence of oceans, and possibly life, under the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa, originated in an article he published in the January 1980 issue of Star & Sky magazine.[43] This claim is disputed by Ralph Greenberg, a professor of Mathematics at the University of Washington, who asserts that such theories were widely known in the 1970s, pointing out that Isaac Asimov, for example, promoted them in his 1979 book Extraterrestrial Civilizations.[44] Hoagland himself references the work of "Cassen, Peale, and Reynolds" in the article.[45] Their computer modeling work looked at the possibility that tidal heating could maintain an ocean beneath the icy surface.[46] Other work on the subject, including speculation concerning life, had been published throughout the 1970s, going as far back as 1971.[citation needed]
The Moon
Hoagland rejects the entire body of knowledge represented by professional selenology and asserts that there are large semitransparent structures constructed of glass on the lunar surface, visible in some Apollo photography when the images are digitally manipulated.[47] He goes on to say that NASA is suppressing knowledge of an ancient civilization on the Moon, and that the advanced technology of this civilization is lying around on the Moon's surface.[48][49] He has repeatedly alleged that the 12 moon-walkers, who would be well qualified to confirm the existence of lunar artifacts and glass structures, have had their memories selectively edited via hypnosis so that they no longer remember seeing evidence of a lunar civilization.[50] He has stated that a feature in an image of the lunar surface, mistakenly believed by professional planetary scientists to be a rock, is actually the severed head of a robot,[51] and that NASA is the originator of the "...we didn't go to the moon" hoax..[52]
On Coast to Coast AM on September 24/25 2009 Hoagland stated that the extremely thin film of water that had been detected on the Moon[53] was obviously leaking from buried cities.[54]
On October 6/7 2009[55] he opined that the upcoming LCROSS lunar impact was targeted on a manned lunar base, set up by "The Secret Space Program," and that the impact would reveal some secrets. He also said that the impact would be recorded by ALSEP seismometers — the idea that ALSEP was turned off in September 1977 was "just another NASA lie." 18 days after the LCROSS lunar impacts, Hoagland released a digitally manipulated copy of the plume image released by NASA. Hoagland wrote[56] that the rectilinear pixellation pattern emphasized by his manipulation of the photograph is in fact a ruined city.
U.S. government conspiracy
Hoagland claims The United States government has covered up the presence of extraterrestrials, that the Space Agency murdered the Apollo 1 astronauts,[57] that NASA missions to Mars are a "well documented interest of the Bush family",[58][59] and that there is a clandestine space program which uses antigravity technology reverse-engineered from lunar artifacts and communicated by secret societies.[60]
Hoagland further claims that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by an agency or agencies opposed to his stated policy[61] of inviting Nikita Khruschev to create a joint U.S.—Soviet manned lunar effort.[60] He asserts that Federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and NASA are linked to Freemasonry.[57][62][63][64]
The Norwegian spiral
Hoagland has commented at great length[65][66][67] on the so-called Norway Spiral, an extraordinary display of light seen over much of northern Norway on 9 December 2009, caused by the partial failure of a Russian SLBM test flight. Hoagland draws special attention to the fact that this event occurred close to President Barack Obama's arrival in Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
On 2–3 February 2010, on the Coast to Coast AM radio show,[68] Hoagland announced that the Russian SLBM had in fact been captured by Dark Forces intent on preventing mankind's exploration of outer space. These Dark Forces, he explained, were probably headed by Nazi officers who had escaped into space after World War II. To Hoagland, this was a sufficient explanation of President Obama's desire to cancel Project Constellation, since Obama had clearly accepted that any attempt to return to the Moon would be thwarted by the superior technology of the Nazis in space.
Other claims
Hoagland has asserted that he was the "co-creator" of the Pioneer 10 plaque along with Eric Burgess,[69][70][71] that the Saturnian moon Iapetus is an artificial world,[72] that Galileo, which burned up in Jupiter's atmosphere, caused a mysterious black spot due to its nuclear power source,[73] that the 9/11 attacks were part of a pseudo-Masonic conspiracy,[74][75] and that The Arecibo message was intentionally altered by author Carl Sagan.[76]
On December 9, 2007, Hoagland wrote that the vexatious problems NASA was then having with the “ECO” low-fuel sensors in the space shuttle main fuel tank were due to what he called “Torsion Physics”, which he claimed would never be resolved by conventional engineering.[77] On February 7, 2008, STS-122 launched successfully. In the postlaunch press conference mission managers reported that the ECO sensors had performed flawlessly. The problem had been traced to an external tank feed-through connector—and corrected using perfectly conventional engineering STS-122#ECO sensor troubleshooting and recovery. The mission ended, as planned, on February 20—and was called a complete success. He also asserts that the orbital parameters of spin-stabilized satellites are influenced by an anti-gravity field in addition to the energy imparted by their launch rockets, which has been kept secret for fifty years until revealed by himself in August 2008.[78] The February 2009 collision between Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 was "...deliberate, it was an act of violence.", with the intent to make low earth orbit "uninhabitable", and to permit termination of the Space Shuttle program and the Hubble space telescope. He stated on March 16 and 17, 2009 during the Coast to Coast AM show that the Hubble repair mission STS-125, scheduled for May 2009, will be canceled in line with a policy allowing NASA to devote resources to more inspiring programs (it was not). In addition, NASA statements about two space-junk alerts in March 2009 were "lies." During the Coast to Coast AM programs on June 10 and 11, 2009, Hoagland stated that NASA is destroying evidence of life on Mars through the heating of soil samples to high temperatures by the various rovers and landers, which has killed "Martians". During the Coast to Coast AM on May 21 and 22, 2009 he claimed that the Obama Administration could announce in the next few months that we have found life on Mars, and that Interplanetary warfare is being waged right now in Earth orbit, conducted by factions of a secret supra-national World Government.
On October 16/17[79] he stated that the new Ares I-X rocket, scheduled for rollout on October 19 for launch on October 27, would never reach the launch pad. In fact, Ares arrived at pad 39B on October 20, 2009.[80]
Responses by scientists
Many scientists have responded to Hoagland's claims and assertions. Professional astronomer Phil Plait described Hoagland as a "pseudoscientist" and his claims as "ridiculous."[81] In 2002, Ralph Greenberg, Professor of Mathematics at University of Washington, Seattle, wrote a paper asserting that the logic of Hoagland's deductions from the geometry of Cydonia Mensae is flawed.[82] The claim that the Galileo Probe caused a "mysterious black spot" has since been disputed by both NASA and Dr. Plait. There is photographic evidence that a similar "black spot" was present in imagery of Jupiter taken in 1998. A second image referenced by Dr. Plait shows a dark ring which looks similar to the spot Hoagland cited.[83] In 1995 Malin Space Science Systems, NASA prime contractor for planetary imaging, published a paper critiquing claims that the 'city' at Cydonia is artificial, the claimed mathematical relationships, and — very specifically — denying any claims about concealing questionable data from the public.[84]
Publications
- Hoagland, Richard C. (2002). The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever. Frog, Ltd. 5th ed. ISBN 978-1-583940-54-9.
- Hoagland, Richard C. (2007). Dark Mission - The Secret History of NASA. Feral House. ISBN 978-1-932595-26-0.
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References
Notes
- ^ The radio program was submitted for a Peabody Award by the producers, but did not win. The résumé referenced in this paragraph states that the program was nominated(sic) for this award. The submission process [1] is a matter of filling out an entry form and paying an administrative fee. There is no valid analogy with a nomination for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Oscars, which is an honor in itself. The entry form (51-65R) for A Night of Encounter lists only Charles Renaud as the producer of the program. Paul W. Morency, president of Broadcast-Plaza, Inc., submitted the entry form. The entry form, along with an archival 7" 45 rpm gramophone audio recording of the program, is currently being held at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia Libraries in Athens, Georgia. WTIC announcer Dick Bertel hosted the program and interviewed Hoagland, and the program also featured a conversation between Hoagland and astronomer Dr. Robert S. Richardson, associate director of the Griffith Observatory.
- ^ The volcanoes Mauna Loa (19°29' N) and Popocatapetl (19°01' N) are fairly close. The 19.5°N latitude also passes near Santiago in Dominica, parts of the Sahara desert, and Pune in India. The 19.5°S latitude passes near Sucre, Bolivia, Antananarivo in Madagascar, and Tennant Creek in Australia's Northern Territory. Venus has at least 160 giant volcanoes, and some of them are likely to be at or near 19.5°. Jupiter's giant red spot is at 22°S
- ^ Adapted with acknowledgment from the late Tom Van Flandern
Citations
- ^ Website biographical information
- ^ Introduction of Dark Mission
- ^ a b c Hoagland biography from Enterprise Mission website[better source needed]
- ^ Hoagland's Mars 6hr 13min, categorized as Science Fiction, Film Baby. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
- ^ The Hyperdimensional Election of Barack Obama and 2012, late 2008 space exploration video based on his proposed Hyperdimensional Physics, 3hrs, watch part1 and part2.
- ^ a b Enterprise Mission National Press Club NASA Briefing, October 30th 2007 video capture.
- ^ Hoagland at the Los Angeles Hilton, November 4, 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
- ^ He regularly appears as a "Science Adviser" on Coast to Coast AM. For example http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2007/10/09.html NASA's Deceptions, broadcast October 9, 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
- ^ a b Project Camelot Interview, December 2007, about 2hr 45min.
- ^ National Press Club, 10/22/07
Gaithersburg, Maryland, 04/16/04 http://www.paradigmresearchgroup.org/X-Conference2004/press_releases.htm
Washington DC, 03/21/96 http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/hoagnews.html - ^ OMB Peer Review: Public Comment Concerning NASA, cites "Efrain Palermo and Richard Hoagland for their previous research which was submitted as peer reviewed material concerning the feature of water streaks on Mars and the possibility of water actually being able to collect on the surface.". On his web site, Efrain Palermo writes: "I am not a scientist or a geologist. I am a layman astronomer and an artist."
- ^ James Oberg The dark side of space disaster theories, The Space Review, January 21, 2008
- ^ Richard Hoagland's Nonsense, Bad Astronomy, ©2008 Phil Plait
- ^ "In My Absence ..." from Enterprise Mission website
- ^ Coast to Coast AM Radio Show, Episode: Astral Projection Techniques, Host George Noory, Original broadcast: 04-25-05, Listen to audio of "Walter Cronkite" Calls Hoagland
- ^ space.com, war of the words
- ^ http://www.darkmission.net Dark Mission website
- ^ Dark Mission on NY Times Bestseller List
- ^ National Press Club event information, Enterprise Mission article,NPC press conference, October 2007 (excerpt)
- ^ Dark Mission, p.145
- ^ Dark Mission: "The Ken Johnston collection", ch.4, p.144-164
- ^ Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize
- ^ Conscious Media Network interview
- ^ Secrets 2009 Official Program
- ^ Hyperdimensional physics
- ^ Transcript of Richard Hoagland and David Wilcock interview, Coast to Coast AM, broadcast 15 May 2004. Retrieved 6 December 2007.
- ^ "Maxwell’s" vector equations taught in university are actually Heaviside’s truncated equations, and are only a simplified version of what Maxwell originally wrote article.
- ^ James Clerk MAXWELL 20 Quaternion Equations
- ^ Olympus Mons - the caldera in closeup, European Space Agency, 11 February 2004. Retrieved 6 December 2007
- ^ Hoagland & Bara(2), p. 116
- ^ The "Message of Cydonia" from Enterprise Mission website, Hoagland & Torun 1989. This number is close to e, the base of natural logarithms (2.718282). Hoagland therefore calls it 'e-prime' and uses it in calculations as though it were actually e.
- ^ "Brookings Report Re-examined"
- ^ Mars Orbiter Camera Views the "Face on Mars" from Malin Space Science Systems
- ^ "Honey, I shrunk the face" from Enterprise Mission website, 1998.
- ^ A perspective view shows the contentious Face on Mars from the Mars Express orbiter
- ^ A second perspective view shows the Face on Mars from the Mars Express orbiter
- ^ Bara, Mike; "Face it; it’s a Face - (The Sequel)"; darkmission.net
- ^ Hoagland & Bara, Dark Mission pp. 525–41
- ^ "Revealing the True Colors of NASA …" from Enterprise Mission website, 2002
- ^ "A New Model of Mars as a Former Captured Satellite: Bi-Modal Distribution Of Key Features Due To Ancient Tidal Stress?" from Enterprise Mission website
- ^ Coast to Coast AM, 12/26/03
- ^ "Machinery Found at Spirit Landing Site" from Enterprise Mission website, 2004
- ^ Hoagland article from Star & Sky reproduced at enterprisemission.com
- ^ "An Ocean on Europa?"
- ^ Article page on which Hoagland references Cassen, Peale, and Reynolds.
- ^ "Is There Liquid Water on Europa?" (Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 6, September 1979)
- ^ Hasselblad frame # AS12-46-6807.
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; Earth Rising over the Moon at enterprisemission.com
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "Data’s Head"; enterprisemission.com
- ^ Coast to Coast AM, 7 August 2007
- ^ Hoagland & Bara, The Data Head; enterprisemission.com
- ^ Hoagland & Bara (2), pp. 68-70
- ^ Water Makes Moon Suddenly a More Attractive Destination (space.com)
- ^ Coast to Coast archive, 09-24-09
- ^ Coast to Coast archive
- ^ NASA's Smoking Gun: Part II
- ^ a b Hoagland, Richard; Article on the raising of Gus Grissom's "Liberty Bell" capsule at enterprisemisssion.com
- ^ "CSICOP Turns its Eye on Hoagland—And Gets it Blackened in The Attempt"; enterprisemission.com
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "Will Mars Odyssey Finally Let The "Cat Out of The Bag?"; enterprisemission.com
- ^ a b "JFK & Comet Holmes"; coasttocoastam.com
- ^ The offer was made during a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 20 1963
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "Table of 'Coincidence': A Guide to the Improbable at NASA and in History" at enterprisemission.com
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "A Hoax is a Hoax, of Course, of Course ... Unless its a Hoax of a Different Color" at enterprisemission.com
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "Hyperdimensional Katrina": New Evidence" enterprisemission.com; September 5, 2005
- ^ A "Nobel Torsion Message" Over Norway? - Part I
- ^ A "Nobel Torsion Message" Over Norway? - Part II
- ^ A "Nobel Torsion Message" Over Norway? - Part III
- ^ Earth Changes & Space Revelations
- ^ Posner, Gary P. "The Face Behind the 'Face' on Mars: A Skeptical Look at Richard C. Hoagland"; 1990
- ^ http://www.gpposner.com/reply_Hoagland.html
- ^ http://www.enterprisemission.com/skeptik.htm
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "Moon with a View"; enterprisemission.com; 2005
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "Did NASA Accidentally “Nuke” Jupiter?" enterprisemission.com; 2003
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "Who's The Enemy:—The "End of Days" Begun?" enterprisemission.com
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "Robert Bauval Adds to The "9-11" Mystery" enterprisemission.com
- ^ Hoagland, Richard; "The Chilbolton Crop Glyphs: A Message Finally Received -- In Answer to Carl Sagan?" enterprisemission.com
- ^ NASA Will NEVER Solve the Shuttle ”ECO Sensor Problem”…Alone
- ^ Von Braun's 50-Year-Old Secret
- ^ Coast to Coast archive
- ^ http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/leadership/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220700405
- ^ "Richard Hoagland's Nonsense".
- ^ "THE D&M PYRAMID ON MARS AND RICHARD HOAGLAND'S THEORIES ABOUT CYDONIA
- ^ "PIA01496: Jovian Dark Spot". NASA. Retrieved 2006-06-28.
- ^ Malin, Michael C.; "Observations of the 'Face on Mars' and similar features by the Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Camera"; msss.com; 1995