Mars hoax lasts five years

Mark Brown Portland,OR — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:22:33 GMT

My sister sent me this one again and I sent back to her that not only was it not true, but she better hope Mars never gets that close to Earth!

Mars hoax lasts five years

Jason — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:35:05 GMT

The email actually says that Mars will look as big as the moon when viewed with _____ magnification. (I forget the amount of magnification.) The problem people have is that the sentence is broken by the pictures, so the part in front of the pictures ends with saying that Mars will be as big as the moon.

Mars hoax lasts five years

fadda eart — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:52:00 GMT

The sky is pretty clear here...North Shore of Boston...but no giant Mars...PHOOEY!
I wanna be an early Hominid looking up at this exact same thing.
I can feel the sense of depth, movement and harmony between the planets.
Thoughts of how far away they are never crosses my mind.
In my basic Noggin, there is no such thing as that far away.
They are right there in front of me.
I have figgered out that up isn't in my repertoire.
There is no reason to question what I cannot effect.
Although...it is easier getting around and avoiding pitfalls at night when the brighter, whiter one is round instead of a curved sliver.
And the salty waterhole near the shoreline gets much bigger when the bright one is full...and also, when it goes away completely.
HMMMM!!!
How's that for a thought?
for more click my name

Mars hoax lasts five years

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:41:22 GMT

A few years ago WABC-TV morning news in New York broadcast the hoax as if it was a fact.

Mars hoax lasts five years

R.Burke Norfolk,VA — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:39:33 GMT

The whole statement about apparent size is meaningless. With the proper magnification Mars will look "as big as the moon" at any time of any year. Likewise, with the proper magnification an ant will look as big as an elephant. So what?

Mars hoax lasts five years

Guy S. Newell — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:39:53 GMT

I have tried this, and if you look at the moon through field glasses backwards, it IS the same size as mars. So there.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Chris — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:28:28 GMT

In the email I received, there were no pictures, so none of the 'sentences [were] broken', as I read it.
What does surprise me is how many people actually believe it.

Mars hoax lasts five years

mike, playton, nj — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:45:40 GMT

I'm sorry but did you say "Mars mania ruled during the summer of 2003"? It did? Where? With who? In some university dep't in the science section of the times? Mars mania? What are you talking about man?

[ALAN ADDS: How soon they forget... ;-)

[Here are some samples:]

http://www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse/news/2003-08-27.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2003-07-13-mars-usat_x.htm

http://www.today.ucla.edu/2003/030923news_mars.html

http://www.astrohbg.org/gallery2/mars_2003

Mars hoax lasts five years

Dan Indianapolis, Indiana — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:49:46 GMT

The fact that people believe this myth just goes to prove that P.T. Barnum was right..."There's a sucker born every minute."

Mars hoax lasts five years

Js — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:22:51 GMT

I think Mars will circumvent the "big as the moon" theory radically. It true that it's proximity will be obfuscated, but only laterally for sunset viewers. It's twice as likely to be half as big. the proof is in the pudding, bub!

Mars hoax lasts five years

KvR — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:47:25 GMT

Funny how we pride ourselves on or brain capacity, yet are such sloppy thinkers!

Mars hoax lasts five years

Matt, Gaithersburg, MD — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:23:48 GMT

My mother sent me that email a while back- I remeber thinking, "wow, the media hasn't reported at all that the world is about to end due to the effect Mars's gravity would have on the Earth and the rest of the solar system."

I wonder if surfers around the world flew to the greatest surfing destinations to ride the super waves that would likely be caused by this event...

Mars hoax lasts five years

fletc3her — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:20:41 GMT

I've heard this from friends the last couple days. I was a little surprised that anyone could believe the idea that another planet would be as large in the sky as the Moon. Nice to hear what the genesis of this misunderstanding is.

Mars hoax lasts five years

James — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:23:55 GMT

Js said "It's twice as likely to be half as big".
So does that mean it's AS likely to be AS big? Sorry, couldn't resist

Mars hoax lasts five years

Johnnie-Boy — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:41:36 GMT

Yeah like I believe anything sent to me by somebody I don't know! Get real! I don't care what the subject matter, anything sent to you by a total stranger is a lie and could be even worse than just that.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Steve C., Toronto, Canada — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:43:50 GMT

On a different subject, why is it that we have never been shown a magnified picture of the Sea of Tranquility and the places where the boys landed on the moon back in '69? Surly there is good enough magnification available to see this.....strange!

Mars hoax lasts five years

Alec W. Taylor, Rosendale MO — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:45:02 GMT

One day the Moon and Mars may look the same size; a long time from now when the Moon is far enough away, seeing how it is getting farther.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Jane Smith, Nashville, TN — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:50:54 GMT

I was had. I stayed up for nothing.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Richard Vogt, Newton, Ks — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:56:03 GMT

I once told my wife that a man who came on stage to take a bow after a presentation of La Boheme was Puccini. She said, "really?" I'll try this one out on her tonight...

Mars hoax lasts five years

Peter Vann — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:06:53 GMT

My faith in humanities intelligence has been partially restored thru the comments this has generated. Mars is right where it's supposed to be, objects in mirror are closer than they appear.
pv

Mars hoax lasts five years

Jeremy, Stanford Ca. — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:10:10 GMT

I love when people throw the sucker phrase out as if their own mental capacities are superior. Actually, Barnum never said that. It was most likely uttered by a man named David Hannum, who was referring to Barnum's customers, then later attributed to Barnum by one of his rivals.

But if Barnum ever found an opportunity to make people think Mars looked bigger, I'm sure he'd jump at the chance.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Rick, Atlanta, GA — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:17:43 GMT

And if you wear 3D glasses when it gets that close, it looks like all those little Mars orbiters are coming right at you when they come around from the back side of the planet. You can almost reach out and touch them.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Sarah Rodgers Belzoni MS — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:17:57 GMT

I HEARD ABOUT THIS ON THE RADIO AND GOT ALL EXCITED ABOUT SEEING IT. lol Glad to know that I am not the only one thats feels a little stupid right now.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Marijean Thomas Goreville, Illinois — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:19:15 GMT

This is really funny because every year I get this in my emailaand of course I know it's not true. I live in Southern Illinois and last year A little town named Vienna put out a 4 page color spread about this event in their news paper The Vienna Times. I couldn't believe it.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Sean, Kansas City, Kansas — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:26:19 GMT

If you play Mars backwards on a record player, you can hear "...The walrus was Paul...".

Mars hoax lasts five years

CRC Virginia — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:39:58 GMT

Sadly, folks will hit the send button before checking out any e-mail chain-letter they receive in their inbox. I routinely get e-mails from people who should know better about all sorts of hoaxes, scams, etc. I've gotten this e-mail at leat 3 or 4 times from various people.

A quick trip to Snopes usually sorts it all out. I then e-mail the link back to the sender and all the names in the CC and BCC.....

Mars hoax lasts five years

dale, sacto ca — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:54:40 GMT

Way back in my college years (when dinosaurs roamed freely about the earth), I was trying to decide on a major. The choices were genetics, geology, or astronomy. Unfortunately, I chose biology because I thought it would be easier, and it was. If there's anyone in that position, all I ask is that you don't take the easy way out and to challenge yourself

Mars hoax lasts five years

CC in KC — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:00:56 GMT

"and if you look at the comments appended to the item, you'll see that the virus is still active."

Does that mean that everyone who read it now has a VIRUS on their machine?????

Mars hoax lasts five years

Sarah, Arlington, WA — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:13:18 GMT

Thankfully I have yet to see this hoax surface this year (and all the copies I've seen of it in the past via email, myspace, etc did not say anything about magnification, they all just said 'to the naked eye'), but last summer a friend of mine posted a bulletin saying the usual baloney saying Mars will be as big as the moon is to the naked eye. That doesn't even make sense, Mars is HUGE compared to our moon, obviously. I told that friend last summer that if she even looked up into the sky and Mars was as big as our moon is to the naked eye then it was probably a sign the apocalypse was upon us.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Carl, Orange CA — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:23:27 GMT

If you haven't tried it, a dime held at arms length will completely cover the full moon. Good way to prove that it's not actually bigger on the horizon.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Frank Glover Rochester, NY — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:25:11 GMT

"My mother sent me that email a while back- I remeber thinking, "wow, the media hasn't reported at all that the world is about to end due to the effect Mars's gravity would have on the Earth and the rest of the solar system."

Matt, that's the logic I keep trying to tell all those I know who send me *any* viral e-mails. No matter what it claims, the first thing you should ask is, "Whu haven't I heard about this anywhere else?"

That is, anywhere other than an e-mail of unknown origin (yes, it came form soemone you know, but they only got it from someone they know, etc...) rather than a news organization or somplace/someboty that can be held accountable.

The answer, 99% of the time will be; "Because it's not true."

Be espically wary of the political ones, espically the ones you're already inclined to believe. (That is, the ones bashing a politician/candidate you *already* don't like. It still doesn't make the bashing a fact.)

Mars hoax lasts five years

J. B. Wilson, Atl. GA — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:27:06 GMT

Well.. I can understand that it's a hoax, but not why you found a need to write about it..

Mars hoax lasts five years

Fred, Zanesville, OH — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:28:06 GMT

Don't forget the optical illusion that causes a full moon to look much larger when near the horizon than it does when overhead!

Mars hoax lasts five years

SJ, Memphis, TN — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:38:44 GMT

Someone distorted a simple statement. everyone wants to act like it's a Big deal. It's not. Plain and simple. Get over it.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Alchemy, Greenville, SC — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:45:56 GMT

so typical.The American public is so scientifically
incapacitated it is amzing most even have a clue that Mars is a planet. I teach advanced science courses and am appalled at the lack of general knowledge of science by college students much less the less educated masses.

Mars hoax lasts five years

JGR, San Antonio, Texas — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:57:45 GMT

If Mars get that close again, let's get our rockets ready-- it's time to colonize another planet while we have that chance!

Mars hoax lasts five years

katie, Corvallis, oregon — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:08:19 GMT

I feel really confused b/c last year in August I heard about this around the same time as a lunar eclipse. I woke up at 3am to check it out and it looked like there were two orange moons. Does anyone know what I might have seen (other than the most vivid dream of my life)??

Mars hoax lasts five years

Harold Deaver, Richmond, Virginia — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:17:14 GMT

What good is education when people abandon common sense? If common sense was gravity a lot of people would fly right off of the planet. The simplicity of ignorance may be bliss but it seems an awful waste. Enjoy the miracles of creation and do try to stay out of the way, or at least fight the urge to raise your hand when someone is looking for an answer that makes sense.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Roger, — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:21:48 GMT

Was reading this late today,not only it will ever get as big as the moon,it will never be another safe haven for human.God never meant it to be.Hats off to those people who reserved their seats to the moon or is there also a someone who just bought a plot too??!! Hoax news,makes NEWS...good reading though,i must admit.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Iowa — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:45:24 GMT

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating." It bugs me when people say "The proof is in the pudding."

Mars hoax lasts five years

Cassandra, Regina, Sk, Canada — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:57:45 GMT

Quoting: .. A few years ago WABC-TV morning news in New York broadcast the hoax as if it was a fact.
j (Sent Wednesday, August 27, 2008 7:41 AM).......

That is by far the most hilarious thing I've seen yet for postings/comments. For real? How diligent of their news team. Wow... I almost forgot why I quit watching most newscasts... Thanks for the reminder, j. LoL

Mars hoax lasts five years

Casandra, Regina, Sk, Canada — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:03:59 GMT

ps: I do however, recall the line reading something about magnified viewing and the comparative size when viewed in such a way. But alas, it was not in-your-face clear about the instructed/advised form of viewing in regards to the would-be percieved size of Mars.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Trudy Wise, Tempe, Arizona — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:06:35 GMT

How can these people get suckered on these things? Whoever "desinged" this stupid hoax, which I had to tell my co-workers if they had every seen that in the sky, and of course no one on Earth ever saw it either. It irritates me to the core.

Mars hoax lasts five years

steve, kent, uk — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:13:48 GMT

"Space-savvy debunkers" - are these the same people that claimed the universe was "contracting" about 30 years ago when they forgot E=MC2?

Mars hoax lasts five years

Glenn Grayson — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:40:06 GMT

Have any of you ever heard of Snopes.com? Anytime someone sends me something that sounds dubious or too good to be true, I check it out there before I believe it (if I care one way or the other). I've never had such an issue or claim NOT covered by Snopes. If everyone would do so, we could cut way down on needless and misleading "news".

Mars hoax lasts five years

Bob Fortenbaugh, Orrtanna, PA — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:03:25 GMT

"the proof is in the pudding, bub!"

Sorry, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Yvon Sandoval, Carrizozo, New Mexico — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:06:13 GMT

I got it sent to me by a friend..and passed it on..I just sent all those people a note saying... it was a hoax..but it did crack me up....just think tonightI would have been sitting outside with my coffee in hand waiting to see this..lol...I did think it pretty odd that they said it would be 34.5 miles away from earth..but didnt stop to think ..yikes...still cracks me up....good thing it is a hoax!

Mars hoax lasts five years

uib — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:24:31 GMT

I agree that we should spread the word about the existence of Snopes - and encourage folks to use it. But please, if you are going to send the link that exposes something as a hoax, send it only to the person you got it from. Spare all the people in the cc and bcc boxes - most of us have checked it out already if we cared enough in the first place. You mean well, but we end up with dozens more emails telling us that it isn't true...and we know that. It's almost as frustrating as getting all the junk emails in the first place.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Pandy — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:31:24 GMT

I got the email. Oh well. I guess I won't stay up late tonight. I didn't think it would be that large anyways. Oh well. Did you know that there is an asteroid headed right for earth, traveling at 24.000 MPH? The good news is, it won't hit us for 2000 years.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Al, Littleton, CO — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:31:07 GMT

An update for Alan Boye:
Yet another satellite is orbiting Mars collecting science right now. Mars Odyssey is the oldest operational orbiter of the 3 (Mars Express and MRO). One f its biggest jobs is relaying science to Earth from the other 3 landers Spirit, Opportunity, and Phoenix. It was launched in 2001 and still "cookin with gas"!

Mars hoax lasts five years

PDG2, West Richland, Wash — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:33:58 GMT

I got this email forwarded to me last year. It stated flat out that Mars would appear to be the same size as the Moon. With a minimal bit of math, it is easy to see that the assertion is just plain silly... Let's say that Mars is 10 times larger than the moon (of course it is nowhere near that large) and we know that the moon is a quarter million miles from the Earth... and Mars is so much farther -- let's say 25 million miles away, so Mars is 100 times farther than the moon... now just move the decimal point around and in the above example, Mars only appears 1/10th the size of the moon... and in reality, Mars is nowhere near 10x the moon's diameter and it is more than 25 million miles from Earth, thus making its apparent diameter even smaller. In summary, with just a hint of planetary background, it is easy to dismiss the Mars apparent size claim. Moreover, it is quite disappointing that so many folks cannot easily see the plain open silliness of the claim.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Steve, Canon City, Co — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:49:55 GMT

Lord have mercy, people are stupid. This is BS, plain and simple. How long have you been looking at the sky? Mars as big as the moon? Jeez!!!

Mars hoax lasts five years

Lee, Ann Arbor, Mich — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:30:57 GMT

I was waiting in a line with 100 people to see Mars in 2003 through a university telescope at the top of an ancient building that only allowed 10 people on the stairs at one time. After about an hour of waiting, someone shouted, "I can see it!" and pointed at a glowing red light on the top at an university building some way off. This was well received by the patient crowd that waited for the next 10 people to be allowed into the university tower.

Mars hoax lasts five years

JC, Fairbanks, AK — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 17:41:14 GMT

It was ALL OVER the media, Mike of NJ. Who coulda missed it? What're *you* talking about . .

Matt of MD: Waves? No. Tides, yes, but not waves.

Steve C: No, there isn't enough magnification to spot anything at any of the Apollo landing sites from earth. There are, however, pictures taken by other lunar orbitting spacecraft that show the the landing sites. I'm sure they're available on the web.

Alec of MO: the moon's recession from earth is due to the gravity of earth's tidal bulge on the moon. Since earth rotates faster than the moon orbits, this bulge 'leads' the moon by a small amount. But this also slows earth's rotation. Eventually earth will become 'tidally locked' (as the moon already is) and the recession will stop.

Harold of Richmond: Science is FULL of cases where so-called "common sense" fails utterly. The physicist who relies on "common sense" will soon find himself bunking under a bridge. There are dozens of examples just in the computer you use.

Roger: The Flying Spaghetti Monster has nothing against colonizing the moon!

Al of CO: I would add that there are 2 other orbitters as well, for a total of 3 landers 3 orbitters. Yup, the REAL space explorers are hard at work on Mars...

Mars hoax lasts five years

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:40:36 GMT

Even when Mars was truly close in 2003 its angular size was just 25 arcSECONDS. The angular size of the moon is 30 arcMINUTES (1/2 a degree). So mars was still about 60 times smaller in appearance than the moon. The funny thing was, even when you could magnify Mars at least 60 X's, it didn't appear to be the same size as the moon at all.

Our brains play a visual trick on us when looking at the full moon. Just as it does with the sun. If you take a normal picture of the full moon you will see what it's real size is. On paper it measures maybe 5 millimeters in diameter. You can also do this with a holding a ruler up to the full moon or the sun (when it is of course obscured by clouds enough to just see the disc.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Awesomepants, Seattle, Washington — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:42:28 GMT

"I feel really confused b/c last year in August I heard about this around the same time as a lunar eclipse. I woke up at 3am to check it out and it looked like there were two orange moons. Does anyone know what I might have seen (other than the most vivid dream of my life)??"

Perhaps you watched Star Wars last night, and was abducted to Tatooine? My guess is you were seeing things.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Anonymous, Texas — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:44:12 GMT

Hooray for gullibility!

Mars hoax lasts five years

M.G.P. Olando Fl. — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:37:12 GMT

I live in Florida, and only once back in 1990 did I see a very, and I mean very, large full moon. I thought it was amazing, so much so that I even tried to get a picture...never turned out.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Mike, STL, MO — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:43:35 GMT

""Space-savvy debunkers" - are these the same people that claimed the universe was "contracting" about 30 years ago when they forgot E=MC2?"

Huh?

I think you might need to back that one up, mate; it's news to me (and I think most of the cosmology community.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Michael Haynes, Pittsburgh, PA — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:31:48 GMT

Ever notice how there always seems to be this need to say "the year" before a calendar date that starts with 2000? In Alan Boyle's article on the Mars hoax (and believe me, Alan, and hoaxsters, you're not the only ones!) it reads, "Mars will be as close as it will ever get until the year 2287." Correct me if I'm wrong, but during the Twentieth century we NEVER said, "The year 1986" or "the year 1993" when referring to a future date. So, "Mars will be as close as it will ever get until 2287." There. I know, I need a life!

Mars hoax lasts five years

Ross, Cookeville, TN — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:50:15 GMT

"You can also do this with a holding a ruler up to the full moon or the sun (when it is of course obscured by clouds enough to just see the disc."

ummm... I wouldn't advise that with the sun. If you can see the disk of the sun at all, chances are that plenty of UV radiation is getting through to your eyes. Eyes don't react favorably to large quantities of UV radiation.

and, yeah, I find it pretty amusing that people would believe that Mars would appear as big as the moon to the naked eye. That would be quite a problem indeed. Thankfully, I haven't received this e-mail in a while. Most of my e-mail contacts are engineers or scientists and know better.

Mars hoax lasts five years

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 05:29:44 GMT

Ross, Cookville...ya, wear UV rated sunglasses when the sun is behind those clouds. Or, just wait till the next full moon. Anyway, the whole operation only takes maybe 5 seconds at the most with the ruler.

Mars hoax lasts five years

JB Pensacola FL — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:11:37 GMT

Qution Iowa and Bob "the proof of the pudding is in the eating."

I do not know which came first but I was taught that the phrase "Proof in the pudding" came from Thompsons "Plum Pudding" model created in 1897 and scientifically accepted in 1904 (only to be replaced in 1911 by a the "solar" models) Note the "proof" of atoms were in the pudding. And thats where that phrase cam from. But I can see two phrases closely related emerging at the same time... or "mixing" together! :-)