Keep your eyes open!...
Keep your eyes open!...
Background
On April 6, 1998 the following article appeared on the online version of the Boston Globe:
Images may resolve dispute over 'Face on Mars'
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - New images released today from a NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars may resolve a debate over the purported ``Face on Mars,'' a feature photographed more than 20 years ago that has become part of folklore.
Images of the site recorded during the weekend by the Mars Global Surveyor were released today by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The images can be found at: http://mpfwww.arc.nasa.gov/mgs/mgs-readme.html
I downloaded one of the images and cropped a portion of it (with no additional image manipulation) to produce the "Madonna and Child Image on Mars" below. Please allow several minutes for the image to download.
Comments on Madonna and Child Image on Mars
--"This brings to mind something which occurred in Garabandal. I believe it was Mari Loli who asked the Blessed Mother if she could take her photograph using a polaroid. She was given permission and took the photo. The image was indistinct to say the least. Observers asked Mari why would she say yes and then have the photo look so questionable. Loli then asked the Blessed Mother when she appeared again the question the observers asked.
The Blessed Mother's response was quite telling. She said, (paraphrasing) why would it matter if the image was clear for they still would not believe!"
--"Well, I share a similar bias, but I see it too! Crib on the left, baby's head. Mary's cloaked outline on the right. Wild!"
--"Aloha Doc!!! By Jove, my man, you are correct!!! I see Mary holding the baby Jesus!!! Wow!!!
--"That mars image looks like the Blessed Mother holding Jesus with somebody looking on. It doesn't take imagination to see it."
--"Thank you for making the image of the nativity
that you discerned in the Mars photo available to all. The image of mother
and child is clearly suggested there in bas relief. There is a solemn beauty
in the image, and one responds to it from a deep holy place within. For
me, it was an image of the Mother of God looking down on her Son. Like
poetry, line drawing intentionally leaves out detail so that the imagination
of the observer can participate. Because of the simplicity of this image,
persons from all the world with many different ways of seeing can bring
their own experience to the mystery of the incarnation. We look at an image
of the nativity and our first thought is, "What gift can I bring?" For
me, He answers in the words of the African hymn, 'Every man heart lay down'."
