Quest for The Red Planet Mars

Could our fascination with going to Mars be driven by a forgotten connection to our cosmic ancestors? This episode embarks on an exciting journey through space exploration's past, present, and tantalizing future. We kick off with the imagery of an enigmatic monolith on Phobos, sparking a dialogue that walks the fine line between NASA's geological explanations and the thrilling possibility of extraterrestrial origins. Against the backdrop of SpaceX's groundbreaking advances, we ponder the dynamic role of a great public-private partnerships in fulfilling our interplanetary dreams.

What links Werner von Braun, Elon Musk, and a mythical extraterrestrial named Valiant Thor? We traverse this compelling narrative, highlighting the uncanny parallels from von Braun’s 1953 book, Project Mars, which predates Musk's real-life endeavors on the red planet. The conversation takes delightful detours into the world of Tom Swift novels, literature that has long inspired young minds with its spirited tales of technological triumphs. We aim to understand how these fascinating intersections of fiction and reality continue to shape our perception of innovation and leadership.

As we examine theories about ancient aliens and Martian colonization, we reflect on Ayam Eshed's bold claims of extraterrestrial meetings on Mars and the strategic interests behind such missions. The discussion spans potential undiscovered resources, the shadowy "face on Mars," and sci-fi inspired interpretations of historical texts. These narratives invite listeners to imagine a future where cosmic heritage influences humanity's push towards the stars, weaving together myth, archaeology, and cutting-edge science as we ask: what secrets does Mars hold for our future exploration?

"Space Journey" by Geoff Harvey
Copyright © 2021 Melody Loops LP
Full License Royalty-Free Music 
https://www.melodyloops.com

Chapters

• 1:02 Studying Mars Over the Decades
• 16:39 A Comparision of Elon Musk and Valiant Thor
• 22:52 Ancient Alien Connections to Mars
• 33:37 Humanity's Future in Space Exploration

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:02

We should go boldly where man has not gone before Fly by the comets, visit asteroids, visit the moon of Mars. There's a monolith there, a very unusual structure on this little potato-shaped object that goes around Mars once in seven hours. When people find out about that, they're going to say who put that there? Who put that there? Well, the universe put it there. If you choose, God put it there.

Joe: 1:33

Hello everyone, thank you for joining us on Alien Talk Podcast. This is the show where we discuss all things related to aliens and UFOs and, as always, push the limits of our understanding. Joe Landry and Laurie Oldford here once again to seek the truth and uncover the facts about fascinating prospects of extraterrestrial life and the existence of UFOs. What you just heard was a clip of astronaut Buzz Aldrin taken from a C-SPAN interview in 2009, and it's now circulating on TikTok.

Joe: 2:06

Aldrin has appeared several times on C-SPAN over the years to discuss various topics. Still, he has most prominently emphasized the importance of returning to the moon and of our goal of traveling to Mars. Buzz Aldrin has been the most vocal and public about the lunar missions from all the Apollo astronauts, and he is only one of four surviving astronauts from the 12 who actually walked on the moon, the other three being David Scott, Charles Duke and Harrison Schmidt. None of them have received as much media attention over the past 50 years as Buzz has. He has even appeared on several television sitcoms and kid shows, making him a household name.

Laurie: 2:47

Yeah, you are absolutely right, Joe. When it comes to advocating for interplanetary exploration, I can't think of any astronaut who is as passionate about it, especially the idea of going to Mars. And for being an old guy. Buzz Aldrin has truly become a personification of the American space program, and he has appeared on television countless times. Besides being on C-SPAN, he has written books and been a guest on Joe Rogan's podcast. In the clip that we just heard, he mentions that there are incredible discoveries to be made in space, such as a monolith on the surface of the moon of Mars, Phobos. Believe it or not, it's the size of a 300-foot-tall building, and you can't help but think of Stanley Kubrick's film 2001 Space Odyssey when you hear about that.

Joe: 3:41

Yeah, I know. The discovery was made in 1998 by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. About a decade later, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured images of a similar formation on the Martian surface. Now NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposed that these structures that look like monoliths are actually geological formations resulting from a process known as plastic ejecta. This phenomenon occurs when a meteorite impacts a surface, superheating the material into liquid streams that rapidly cool, forming hard stalagmites that resemble large spikes. They theorize that the weak gravitational pull of Phobos, Mars' smaller moon, could cause molten rock to eject into the atmosphere more forcefully. This is one possible explanation for the monolith-like formations. However, some individuals have speculated that these structures could be artificial remnants of extraterrestrial settlements or extraterrestrial technology, possibly put in place a very long time ago. Well, here we are already in 2025. It's great to be back, Laurie. Since we're only doing the show once a month now, it feels like too much time has passed without us having any meaningful conversations, don't you think?

Laurie: 5:02

Yeah, no kidding, it's like it's almost going too long without getting any exercise. You know, in this case the mental exercise like got to get back on our game. So it is great to be back. And for this episode, which starts our 11th season, now we are focusing on the planet Mars and contemplating how soon we can expect the first humans to land there, as well as pondering the possibility that some alien life forms have already visited it in the distant past.

Laurie: 5:34

So since the dawn of time, people have gazed up at the stars and asked questions such as what lies beyond our planet? Are we alone in the universe? Can we reach that star or planet and, if so, how? How do we get there? And if you have been following recent events, you are likely aware of the numerous SpaceX rockets, the Falcon rockets, launched just in the last past few years by SpaceX, whose full name is actually Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, and it's headed by none other than Elon Musk. He has been the big actor in the news lately, as they are now the prime contractor with NASA for facilitating the American Space Program, of which the Starlink satellite project is currently the preeminent one, as many of us know, that is designed to expand Internet communications around the world, but they are also deeply involved, and have been for nearly 20 years now, with the planning of manned spaceflight to the planet Mars Right.

Joe: 6:43

Spacex is associated with two major divisions within NASA the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services and the Commercial Crew Development. These programs were established in the early 2000s to transfer some of the spacecraft manufacturing costs to the private sector. Spacex has emerged as the most successful company in demonstrating this public-private partnership model for spaceflight, and while there are other companies like Boeing and Blue Orion, or I should say Blue Origin, which are also involved, lately it has been the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that has gone up most of the time. Actually, when you think about all the space assets that have been employed over the past 60 plus years, it is quite staggering. It's almost impossible to think of a time, say like when our parents were kids, that there were no satellites at all up in orbit, nothing for communications or weather observation or GPS navigation, and now there are just thousands and thousands of operational satellites of all kinds moving above the Earth, not to mention all the ones that are not working. You know all the space junk Now.

Joe: 7:49

The idea of getting a man on Mars goes back to the 1960s, when we were talking about getting a man on the moon. The planet has always fascinated us. It is a celestial object in the night sky that shines beautifully and brightly with a red hue. As it is, mars is visible right now. It's in the constellation sky that shines beautifully and brightly with a red hue. As it is, mars is visible right now.

Joe: 8:06

It's in the constellation Gemini, and the surface is mostly red in color due to the high content of iron oxide within the soil and rocks. It has an atmosphere similar to Earth's, but with much less oxygen and a lot more carbon dioxide, as well as being less dense, it's thinner air, and ever since the late 19th century, there has been the popular belief that life exists up there, as the Italian astronomer Giovanni Scharpelli discovered in 1877 what he called canali, which were thought to be canals or channels, and this led to speculation that they were constructed by intelligent Martian life forms so as to direct water from the seasonal melting of the planet's polar ice caps to places that are close to the equator. If that was so, then they could function to possibly supply inhabited cities and irrigate lands that are used to support agriculture and thus support life on the planet.

Laurie: 9:08

Right and you've got to bear with me here, I'm struggling with this sciatica nerve and there are drawings and sketches of these canals on Mars where they're published in several magazines and newspapers throughout Europe and the United States, and it made people wonder if there was life on Mars. As the idea of space travel started to become more of a reality in the 20th century, the question became could we go there and live like we do here on Earth? Now that we are in the 20th century, we seem to be making steady progress toward the goal of sending humans to Mars, and this effort is primarily led by Elon Musk, the owner and CEO of some big companies SpaceX. Of course, there's Tesla and X, formerly an X, formerly known as Twitter. So he's a really smart guy and he is in the top five wealthiest people on Earth, and this according to Forbescom. And, like Oba Zadran, he is very passionate about not only sending humans to Mars, but also making it so that we can colonize it and sustain a permanent presence there.

Joe: 10:26

So, out of all the planets, Mars is really the only one where a human presence is even conceivable, even though we cannot live on the planet without adequate and sophisticated life support systems. Its atmosphere, its climate, its gravity, its lack of water would not allow us to survive there without a whole lot of modifications made to accommodate us. But it's still far more plausible to go there than, say, to go to Jupiter, Saturn or any of those outer planets which are all gaseous and too distant. No way for Mercury and Venus, not any of the moons out there either. Mars is the only one that, even closely, is compatible with Earth.

Joe: 11:09

Now, some of us are old enough to remember the Viking probes that were sent there back in the 1970s Vikings 1 and 2. They were the first ones actually to land on the surface, actually to land on the surface, and these were also the ones that gave us the first images of Cydonia, which is the location of the famous "face on Mars that many of us have seen. There were four that went before Viking Mariner 4 in 1964, mariners 5 and 6 in 1969, and Mariner 9 in 1971. They were only orbiters that eventually burned up in the Martian atmosphere.

Laurie: 11:46

Yeah, there was a long period of inactivity until about 1996, when the United States launched the Pathfinder. The mission successfully landed and deployed the first rover that was called Sojourner, which operated for 84 days, and from 1998 to 2020, numerous lander and rover missions were sent to Mars, to include the Perseverance, and the most recent mission, ingenuity, marked the first successful helicopter deployment to fly over the Martian surface.

Joe: 12:23

And, of course, various nations besides the United States, have espoused aspirations to explore Mars. The Soviet Union, for instance, is known to have launched over 15 probes aimed at Mars, at least as far as we know, with 11 of these messages resulting in failures either at launch or during descent. Again, that's as far as we know. Since the dissolution of the USSR, russia has conducted three additional Mars missions, one of which achieved success as a collaborative effort with the European Space Agency in 2016. And, furthermore, the People's Republic of China has made significant strides in Martian exploration by successfully deploying a lander in 2020. In addition to these, over the past 25 years, india, japan and the United Arab Emirates have launched orbiters and probes, contributing to our understanding of Mars through flybys and orbital observations.

Laurie: 13:27

And so Wernher von Braun. He published a novel way back in I don't know if it was 1948 or 1953. But remember he was the expatriated German scientist who came to the US after World War II and essentially became the father of the Apollo Lunar Program. So his book, called Project Mars: A Technical Tale actually gets into describing what society on Mars would be like.

Laurie: 13:58

And in chapter 24, which is titled how Mars is governed, von Braun describes a Martian government comprised of 10 leaders, with one designed or designated as the chief executive referred to as Elon. Strange right. But this leader is elected through a universal suffrage system for a five-year term, and the legislature consists of two houses responsible for enacting laws that Elon and his cabinet execute. So the upper house, known as the Council of the Elders, is made up of 60 members who are appointed for life by Elon, and these two cabinets remind me of the Republican and Democrat parties, don't they? And with Elon Musk assigned to the Trump's administration's Department of Government Efficiency, it seems that a sort of prophecy, I guess, is unfolding. So, Elon Musk did say we're going to take Doge to Mars.

Joe: 15:02

That's something else. Is that a coincidence or what?

Joe: 15:05

I don't know, and this narrative surrounding the potential establishment of a human presence on Mars prompts us into significant discourse concerning the sociopolitical frameworks that may develop.

Joe: 15:19

Will it resemble a democracy, or will it assume a more authoritarian structure, something akin to a military hierarchy? Also, we have to wonder how pervasive the role of AI will be in helping us achieve such a goal. Would our ability to thrive on another world be completely dependent on the capacity of sophisticated and complex software algorithms so as to maintain control of the biosphere that we would inhabit and how we would interface with it? And the feasibility and difficulty of this enterprise should not be underestimated. Yet we know from the accomplishments of the Apollo program that there is a robust evidence showing the human ability to carry out challenging space missions. Furthermore, the current era, marked by the aspirations of visionary individuals like Elon Musk, suggests a ripe opportunity for advancing humanity's ventures into space exploration. This intersection of ambition and technological capability could very well catalyze a new chapter in our collective journey beyond the earth in a recent tweet uh, elon musk responded to a user.

Laurie: 16:39

It was named, named space subduer. Uh, sharing it with the caption, how can the parallel, how can the parallels be real? And the post said the 1953 book Mars Project, another one written by Werner von Braun, says the leader of Mars shall be called Elon. I think it's the same book actually we mentioned earlier, but anyway, someone pulled the original German manuscript from the archives to debunk this myth, only to confirm that von Braun predicted he would be called Elon and this was discussed in an article called moneycontrolcomcdnampprojectorg and it dated just last week, january 28th to be exact, explaining that when the excerpt from the book was translated into English, it described Martian governance, saying explaining that when the excerpt from the book was translated into English, it described Martian governance saying and this is the excerpt it was connected with that inner commitment to action which was also the driving force in the development of Martian civilization. The management of the terror consisted of 10 vessels. At their head was a man who was awakened by a Ginnet Now, I've tried to look up this word, ginnet, and I think the closest thing I get to it is called, so I don't know awakened by a called population for five years at a time whom the Martians called Elon, a time whom the Martians called Elon, but opposite Elon and my cabinet this is still the excerpt there was a parliament who decided on the laws according to which the cabinet had to govern.

Laurie: 18:27

After Musk shared the Tweet, it ignited a storm of responses, now speculating about his extraterrestrial origins. So people questioned whether he was an alien or even a time traveler. Musk even joked by reacting to him being a time traveler, tweeting. No matter how often I tell people that I'm a 5,000-year-old alien time traveler, they don't believe me. But when reflecting on Elon Musk, I often draw a parallel to that character, valiant Thor, as he embodies a similar persona. So, if you recall, we talked about him being a purported extraterrestrial visitor from the planet Venus, and in 1957, valiant Thor and two others arrived on Earth where they encountered a police officer who subsequently took them to the Pentagon and later engaged with government officials. His story is sort of like folklore and is regarded by some ufologists and conspiracy theorists as the way by which US leaders were provided with advanced technology as the way by which US leaders were provided with advanced technology.

Joe: 19:34

I'm trying to look up the word cald. If it's some foreign word that I'm not familiar with, I don't know what the meaning is I'm not finding anything here, but I see it's an acronym for culturally and logistically diverse. I don't know if that pertains to um the book, um Project Mars. I'm not sure what that word would mean. Though, call, do you have any idea?

Laurie: 19:59

no, I, because again it also uh means animal too, like uh any, uh any of a uh geneta of a small old world, usually carnivorous. They're red mammals related to the civics. I don't know, it's weird. Nothing shows that.

Joe: 20:22

Context with what he's writing about.

Laurie: 20:26

That was Von Braun back in 1953, or whatever.

Joe: 20:30

That genius and he's speaking. He's writing gibberish in his novel, but Valiant Thor, of course he's believed to still be around today, maybe living somewhere in Nevada. There are actually books written that have him named as the author, ones that are titled Alien Soul Quest and the Secret Bases of the Inner Earth. So, it's most likely just someone using a snazzy pen name. Now, I don't think Elon Musk and Valiant Thor are one and the same person, but the sort of cultural depiction of a person who is super smart, getting in with top-level government officials so as to impart high-tech innovation at an amazingly quick pace, does make the comparison much more vivid. Keep in mind that Elon Musk has been on the cutting edge with this kind of research and development for many years, long before he came into the Trump administration, so he is certainly the juggernaut of projects that are seemingly out of this world. So you know, laurie, when I was a kid about 12 years old or so I like to read Tom Swift novels. Do you remember those?

Laurie: 21:41

Yeah, well, they're kind of old, aren't they? Like from the 50s. So you're dating yourself here, joe. But yeah, they, they had some cool technology or technological and inventions in the stories, right.

Joe: 21:58

Yeah, and discussing the legacy of the Tom Swift series, it's not worthy that there are several newer iterations haven't published just within the past decade, albeit probably with the involvement of ghostwriters, and these stories center around the character of Tom Swift, no relation to Taylor Swift, and Tom Swift is a teenage scientist and inventor who embarks on a variety of innovative and adventurous pursuits. And they were good stories, I mean, I liked reading them. Um, and the ones I got a hold of, they were pretty old, um, yeah, going back to the 1950s, and, uh, even for that time it was pretty dated. Uh, and the time I was reading them, let's say, it's 1980, 1981. So yes, I think again really dating myself, here there probably people who have never heard of this story at all.

Joe: 22:52

It is Tom Swift, but the original novels possess a unique and imaginative quality that resonate with the themes commonly found in exploring science fiction. A particularly interesting one is titled Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space. There were other ones called Tom Swift and His Giant Robot, tom Swift and His Jet Marine. I liked them when I was a kid.

Joe: 23:20

And Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space. It's a space station and from how it's depicted, it seems to prelude the International Space Station, only much better. This thing was, in the story, over a thousand miles above the Earth and had the capability to dock multiple rocket ships so as to get supplies and fuel to ready themselves for trips to other planets such as Mars. So this whole concept is nothing at all new to science fiction writers, and it certainly isn't anything new to the inspiration of visionary entrepreneurs and visionary scientists. It is almost an obsession for humanity, a drive that seems to well up from the depths of the soul. And could it be that there is a sublimated longing to go there because, embedded within the latent strata of our subconscious minds about it having some memory of our ancestors already being there?

Laurie: 24:20

Yeah, or it could be the explorer in all of us. Well, the exploration of Mars is not just a scientific pursuit, but rather intersects with a deeper, perhaps instinctive, aspiration inherent to us that stems from a reservoir of collective memories ingrained in our subconscious, suggesting an ancestral familiarity with the Martian landscapes. Ancient alien theory provides a compelling framework to explore this notion further, proposing that humanity's connection to extraterrestrial entities and places might be more profound than previously acknowledged. The significant financial investments made by governmental and private citizens in Martian expeditions raise pertinent questions regarding the motivations behind this focus. It invites speculation on whether Mars could be viewed as a potential cradle for human origins, thereby redefining our understanding of extraterrestrial heritage. So you asked what kind of sociopolitical framework or apparatus there would be for people living on Mars. With that, one must consider the implications of organizations that possess classified information, potentially influencing these developments on another world, and this may suggest that Mars is not merely be a destination, but rather a site of historical and cultural significance that could reshape our understanding of human civilization itself.

Joe: 26:06

Yeah, and with that the inquiry into the alleged advanced alien civilizations. It gets more convoluted and complicated when you think about something like Atlantis, when you're looking at this narrative. If such civilizations indeed existed, one could posit the likelihood of their origins being linked to Mars. We also know from exploring the mythology of the Anunnaki, and their proposed connections to either Atlantis or a distinct extraterrestrial lineage demands a deeper engagement within historical texts and contemporary archaeological findings. So it's a multi-faceted examination which encourages a broader understanding of our place within the cosmos and the socio-cultural structures that arise as we extend our reach beyond Earth.

Joe: 27:03

And while conclusive evidence supporting these hypotheses remain very elusive at best, the wealth of documented histories and oral traditions significantly stimulates our curiosity about possible extraterrestrial roots that may be found on the planet Mars. Extraterrestrial roots that may be found on the planet Mars. And this intrinsic pursuit of knowledge constitutes a fundamental dimension of the human experience which compels us to investigate that which is both feasible as well as extraordinary, and a closer inspection of ancient texts, notably the last book of Enki, and that was written by Zacharias Hitchin. It highlights the case of Alalu, the deposed king of Nibiru, who reportedly met his demise on Mars and is designated in these narratives as Lamu After his death. It is asserted that plans were formulated to establish way stations to facilitate travel between Earth and Nibiru and vice versa, and the first of these way stations was situated on Mars, where it is estimated that approximately 300 Agigi were assigned to labor. These are the species that were lower on the evolutionary ladder, let's just say, than the Anunnaki, and they were followed by the establishment of another station, which was on the moon.

Laurie: 28:36

Yeah, like a subculture of the Anunnaki or something. Yeah, but yeah, and you know, for those of you that say, well, the Lost Book of Enki, that's supposed to be a fiction. It's actually what Sitchin was saying, was that? No, the tablets. When he was translating those tablets, the areas that were missing, he pieced together and took what he believed from the Akkadian. Using Akkadian and Egyptian and Sumerian languages, he brought to life what he thought that would be. So because of that it's labeled as a fiction. But he did translate the majority of those texts and just pieced it together.

Laurie: 29:16

Anyway, the narrative indicates in this story that Adalu was honored due to his status as the first king to die on an extraterrestrial body. In a notable archaeological discovery, his remains were reportedly found within a cave on Mars, prompting the construction of a monument to resemble his visage adorned with a helmet, or his visage adorned with a helmet, and this monument has drawn parallels to the image famously captured by NASA in 1976, often referred to as the face on Mars. According to Sumerian beliefs, this representation was meant to orient itself toward the planet Nibiru.

Joe: 30:01

That's fascinating. Well, NASA has since provided enhanced imaging of that site over the last almost 50 years. They maintain that there is no discernible facial features. Alternative interpretation suggests that structural details resembling features such as eyes, nose and the mouth are still identifiable despite erosion over millennia. It is also posited that the monument may have suffered damage due to the harsh environment up there, harsh weather, the high winds on the planet and, furthermore, historical accounts suggest the possibility of surface alteration on Mars, even to the point of there being a nuclear conflict with the Anunnaki, which is told in the story of their confrontation with Marduk.

Joe: 30:57

Yeah, which is an explanation for that long trench-looking scar across Mars, like the canyon that goes across the distance of the United States.

Laurie: 31:08

Yeah, which could be. We don't know. So anything's possible. But this discourse invites a critical examination of the intersection between the ancient narratives and the contemporary archaeological findings and the implications of differing interpretations from prevailing scientific perspectives. And this might be a reason for our going to Mars. The government and SpaceX may know even more about these ancient events on Mars. Another interesting thing about Mars is when we played this clip at the beginning of the show where former astronaut Buzz Aldrin stated in that interview there's a monolith on the moon of Mars. When people find out about that, they'll say who put that there? Who put that there?

Joe: 31:53

You know. And at the very end it almost seemed like he was trying to almost walk back a little bit from that, like he kind of was hesitant to say you know any more. He realized he wasn't supposed to say that at all. There was some laughter and right after that he commented uh, well, well, the universe put it there. Or, if you choose to believe, you know, god put it there. Uh, so he was seemed like he was trying to backtrack.

Joe: 32:16

Um, making it sound like the monolith was simply a result of a natural formation, which is, you know, the explanation given by the Jack Propulsion Laboratory, or it could be from a religious perspective or a divine act. He's just kind of again thrown out there as whichever interpretation you want to take. However we believe this monolith may be, it could be that this monolith may have been placed there by the gods not necessarily God with a capital G. But if you look at Buzz's behavior, he's clearly excited. I mean he's almost amped up. He knows about the monolith on the moon of Mars and gets pretty excited when he asks you know who put it there? Who put it there? Excited when he asks you know who put it there? Who put it there? After asking this, he feels the need to attribute either the universe or to God. Could he be referring to gods, as we have in the ancient alien context of gods being extraterrestrials?

Laurie: 33:17

No, definitely.

Laurie: 33:18

Well, according to Zechariah Sitchin's Earth Chronicle series, Mars served as a waypoint for the Anunnaki mining operations and there the Igigi refined gold for transport on cargo ships to Nibiru, where it would be dispersed into its atmosphere.

Laurie: 33:37

Additionally, there have been reports from prominent figures like former Israeli space chief Ayam Eshed, who claims that aliens exist on Mars. Eshed is a scientist and a retired brigadier general in the Israeli military, often regarded as the father of Israel's space program, and he has been a professor of aeronautics and astronautics and directed Israel's space program for 30 years, during which he launched approximately 20 Israeli-made satellites into space. So Eshed is a very credible person, and he has brought attention to a conspiracy theory by stating the United or the Unidentified Flying Objects have asked not to publish. He's talking about the aliens, I guess of those flying objects have asked not to publish that they are here. Humanity is not ready yet. They are equally curious about humanity and seek to understand the universe's fabric. And he also mentioned the existence of an underground base on Mars where American astronauts and alien representatives reportedly meet.

Joe: 34:49

Well you know, there are also some who claim that President Trump was on the brink of disclosing significant information regarding extraterrestrial phenomena during his first term. However, he was allegedly advised against it that such disclosure would incite mass hysteria, and this is an understandable notion here, considering the general public may not be fully prepared for the implications of such a revelation, despite the prevalence of this theme in our popular culture, which includes films, literature, documentaries, even including the ancient aliens TV show on the History Channel. An actual, full disclosure could potentially trigger a widespread alarm, particularly if large alien spacecraft were to appear in our skies. How would humanity respond to that? I don't think they would respond well. Humanity respond to that? I don't think they would respond well. Furthermore, it contemplates the motivations behind high-profile figures like Trump and Musk, as well as NASA's intensified interest in Mars exploration Makes you wonder if there is going to be a disclosure, if it will happen during Trump's second term.

Joe: 36:03

Who knows? Right now, anything is possible with the way things are going, and during his inauguration speech back on January 20th, if you recall, he emphasized that space exploration is on a significant rise right now and that the questions about the underlying objective is a push towards Mars. He almost gave a mandate, similar to what Kennedy did back in the 60s, that the United States will put a man on the moon, he claimed. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars.

Laurie: 36:55

Yeah, he made some important points in his speech, emphasizing the need to expand our territory, elevate our expectations and carry our flag to new and beautiful horizons. Now I believe he was probably referring to Greenland when he mentioned expanding our territory maybe even Canada, where I'm from, but he might also have been considering claiming Mars as American territory. So Greenland is rich in precious minerals and it's strategically important for North America's future defense. Earlier, we discussed whether there might be something on Mars that we need. So is there something there that the government knows about but the public does not? Are there precious minerals on Mars as well that we don't know of?

Laurie: 37:47

And this reminds me of scripture verses in the book of Ezekiel that describe the precious stones and minerals found in the Garden of Eden, including the gems, rubies, topaz, emeralds, quartz, onks, jasper, sapphires, turquoise, crystallite and gold. You know these precious minerals were what the Adamu had to mine in Eden, as described in the Sumerian tablets. You know, for the gods. The gods wanted this and it parallels the biblical story. God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, where the gold is good. So humans have always been fascinated by precious minerals, just as the gods were. I mean, just visit Tucson, arizona, during this time of year. I was there yesterday. You'll see large areas of tints throughout the city displaying gems and minerals from around the world at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show from around the world at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

Joe: 38:44

Yeah, it is a pretty astonishing display of all kinds of things.

Joe: 38:53

I mean it's just gemstones from all over the world. I mean places you wouldn't think they even have such gemstones. But yeah, it's really fascinating to see. And we've heard that you know SpaceX is targeting its inaugural crewed missions to Mars. They want that to happen by the year 2028. Conversely, NASA has scheduled similar missions for the 2030s, and this is according to their own website at NASA. gov. So presently they are enhancing the lunar exploration initiatives with the objective of commencing missions to the moon as early as 2027, which is coming up really quickly. It'll be interesting to see if they actually make that. And this undertaking is supported by a government contract estimated to reach nearly $3 billion, highlighting the significant financial commitment to advancing space exploration. And no matter how one personally feels about all this, it will all be very interesting to watch and see how it unfolds. I think that $3 billion is probably going to be more closely a trillion when it all gets said and done with trying to get assets not only to Moon but then to Mars.

Laurie: 40:11

Yeah, absolutely. Either way, it's going to be a lot of money. And now, before we go, we want to leave you with something to look at and form your own opinion about, because on Monday I came across an article titled what is Everyone Talking About? The Square Structure Captured on Mars on my browser. This came through on my browser, so the piece was published on iflscience. com and it was written by James Filton and it was edited by Laura Simmons. So the article discusses an image of a square structure captured by the Mars Global Surveyor, the MGS, and the Mars Orbiter Camera, the MOC, claiming it as an actual image of a square feature. The topic gained significant attention after Joe Rogan and Elon Musk discussed it, with Musk posting on X we should send astronauts to Mars to investigate.

Joe: 41:10

Yeah, I caught that article and the authors did mention the possibility that the image might have been altered. Can't rule that out. However, they do assert that it is real, noting that you can see the square, and you can. It looks like part of it is covered by soil. It almost looks like an old settlement, like an ancient settlement, like you'd find the ruins of a city somewhere in a desert. So if you fill in the connecting lines in your own mind, you can kind of see that, and surely you can. According to Arizona State University's Mars Image Explorer, this square measures about 1.9 miles across, so it's not small.

Joe: 41:55

According to IFL Science, people are speculating, claiming that nature does create such structures, and that's a statement that is. Or they say that nature does not create such structures, and that's a statement that is. Or they say that nature does not create such structures. That statement is not accurate and that the structure may be. It could be a buried ancient structure built by extraterrestrials, such as like a pyramid, but geometric shapes do form in natural formations. It is considered the hexagonal columns at Giant's Causeway on the coast of Ireland and also the polar hexagons that are seen on Saturn. However, there is usually more of a pattern or arrangement of shapes within natural features. The square on Mars is singular and stands out by itself, and I'm guessing we'll need to get a closer look at it to know more, and that will do it for us today. So please visit alien talk podcast. com to let us know your thoughts on this and if you enjoyed the show. We would love to hear from you.

Laurie: 43:01

Yeah, and remember folks, we, we, we have a YouTube channel as well, so please visit it and show your support by subscribing to and liking our content. Every like and subscription really does help us out.

Joe: 43:15

Certainly, and we invite you to join us in our next discussion next month, where we'll be engaging with a distinguished colleague who also serves as a chaplain. Is that correct, lori? He is a chaplain with your agency.

Laurie: 43:30

Yeah, I think he's a local chaplain for a lot of the agencies in our area.

Joe: 43:35

Nice guy, yeah, so this topic which we're referring, we're going to delve into the complex interplay that we find between the ancient astronaut theory and Christian theology, and this conversation, I think, promises to be quite insightful, and we intend to address several points, some of them that were raised in a recent debate. Many of you may have seen this on YouTube. It did get quite a lot of hits. It's between Wes Huff, who was a Christian apologist, and Billy Carson, who was an ancient alien theorist. It was on a podcast called Elevated and it made it to YouTube, where it has had over 1.3 million views and it has garnered significant attention across social media platforms. Is that where you saw it, or did you see it on YouTube, or did you get it on like Facebook?

Laurie: 44:32

No, it was on YouTube. That's where I saw it, okay.

Joe: 44:35

And, additionally, we plan to produce a YouTube video of our own for the show next month, so as to analyze the various aspects and arguments presented in such a debate, which is quite complex and pervasive, and we want to do so with critical and sober-mindedness. So, until we meet again, we encourage you to remain inquisitive when it comes to all topics of discussion, and we'll be wishing all of you a safe and interesting month coming up ahead. So stay curious, everyone.