Is the government hiding proof of a Martian civilization discovered by the Mars orbiters?
This is one of the most absurd claims made by conspiracy buffs. NASA has a great deal of trouble convincing Congress to give it money for planetary research. If NASA had proof of alien artifacts on Mars, they would eagerly show it to all the TV networks, because then the agency would never have any more trouble getting funding from Congress. Wouldn’t the government cover up any detection of extraterrestrials? Even if the government wanted to cover up the detection of extraterrestrial life, it wouldn’t be able to do so. The scientific searches, both for intelligent and microbial life are being carried out by scientists around the world. The methods that scientists use to confirm their analyses and observations require that the information be distributed to other scientists, making a cover-up extremely difficult. Of course, this also begs the question of what the government would gain by covering up extraterrestrial life. What do I study if I want to go into SETI? The short answer is mat
