Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Charlie S — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 01:53:37 GMT

Thank You, Alan! I've tryed convincing my parents that the mars e-mail was a hoax. I'm not sure that they are interested in rational explanations of what it would mean, if Mars loomed larger than the Moon, in the night sky. Uh, sure it would mean doom, DUH. Maybe they just like to f'word everything they get in their 'in box'

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Marcia Young — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 02:46:18 GMT

Love the lead on this! Being involved in the local amature astronomy club, I've had questions about these e-mails in August 2004, 2005 and 2006. Fully expect to have more in August 2007!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Derek van der Merwe, Johannesburg, South Africa. — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 11:37:33 GMT

If any of this was true, I thought pondering about the e-mail, then NASA could have saved a lot of rocket fuel if only they waited with their Mars mission until Aug 27....besides, the oceanic tides on earth would cause havoc and Mars would have to speed up a bit to be here on time and show as big as the moon.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Nick Greene, Charleston, SC — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 12:19:13 GMT

Great post. This email has been a problem that has plagued me for a couple of years. In fact, I believe that a couple of versions going around are edited versions of newsletters I sent out in 2003, which carried the real story.

As I said in this year's response, "Not only is this not true for this year, at least part of it is not true ever. If Mars ever looked as large as the moon (to the naked eye), everyone on Earth would probably die very soon."

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

James, Springfield, TN — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 12:22:54 GMT

People will believe anything they read.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Harold Whinery, Jacksonville, FL — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 13:36:19 GMT

I just argued with someone about that. They said that Mars would be the closest, blah blah blah. I said "I thought it was the closest a few years back.." Then we argued. They must have seen that letter. I can't wait to send this link....

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Frank Corliss, Boston, MA — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 13:42:57 GMT

This is one more example of the internet's dirty little secret. That is, we don't clean up after ourselves. There are thousands of obsolete pages out there that are recycled by people who mean well but haven't got a clue!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Celtic Curmudgeon, Aberdeen, MD — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 14:11:38 GMT

Marvin the Martian just appeared on my desktop, yesterday! Is this an indication of things to come, a warning?

What would be the likelyhood of a capture should Mars get so close? A stable triple planetary system? Anybody's orbital mechanics up to a decent three body problem out there? One thing for sure, the tide charts would need updating! Surf's UP!

Astronomy is out wabbit hunting with Occam's Razor! Looking to split hares, no doubt! Come on guys, it just isn't that hard! Orbits Star, Isn't a star, Gravity makes round. Done and done. So what if Pluto and Charon are a double, so what if we have umpteen planets?

One astronomer was bewailing the loss of his childhood memories of the "magic"! Drivel, sport! Grow up and get rational! The damned things don't give a hoot what we call them, why should you? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Gullible's Travels — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:18:09 GMT

Hey, if we're all kept busy looking for the giant Mars in the sky and prepping for high tide in Denver, we might just forget about what's happening in Iraq, right George? Hey, yer shoelace is untied...!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

John Murray, Stanley VA — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:29:50 GMT

My ass just fell off! Thanks Allen!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Dale Stanek, Sarasota, Florida — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:33:13 GMT

I had two friends forward me the hoax email this year, and one last year! Thank you for putting out this article. I have forwarded it to them to support my less than enthusiastic replies!!!!!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Ivan, Coconut Creek, FL. — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 16:48:01 GMT

If Mars is as close as the moon, then we are in deep troubles, meaning we are in a collision course to Mars. Pretty much the doom day for Earth, the gravity in our solar system is falling apart!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

H. L. Wright — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 17:24:19 GMT

That anybody would believe this tripe just goes to show the sorry state of science education is a public school system seemingly more interested in promoting half-baked social theory than transmitting fact. I left the teaching profession several years ago rather than participate in ultra-left-wing brainwashing, and it's gotten worse since.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

A. Nonymous — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:23:17 GMT

I know your article and explination are the real hoax, as I got several forwarded emails about this event long before I read this. Thus the timing of the 'real' emails trumps the so called 'truth' of your article. And by the way, I am just kidding. I have been telling several of my friends this year and last that they have been forwarding rehashed recycled old info. I will start pointing them towards this link to back up my claims, thanks!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Debbie Reid — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:46:44 GMT

How could anyone make light of this situation. We are all so vulnerable and most people believe most things they hear (from the "experts"). It's a really sad day when all of the things that are going on in "LIFE" boil down to this. Isn't there enough termoil going on for us to deal with-how do we rid ourselves from these kinds of hoaxes????

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Jason - Arcola, IL — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 20:42:50 GMT

My daughter's teacher sent home a message to look for this. I told my daughter to tell her that this was a hoax but she wouldn't believe her. She STILL BELIEVES THE EMAIL!! So much that she even went as far to print it out and send it home telling everyone to look for it. And this is a TEACHER telling kids and their families about it. Not even researched at all. I haven't been in school in 15 years and even I still know that if Mars were that close for real we would be in big trouble. I thought the point of science was question everything? Maybe we should all start questioning teachers more.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Ashleah Lewisville,TX — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 22:07:04 GMT

Wow thank you so much. After my dad got the Email, he told me and my friend about the revelation, and we were very freaked out.. so thanks for letting us know. YOU ROCK!!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

*** Coyne — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 02:57:56 GMT

Aw, gee, I was really hopin to see the tire tracks from them Martian rovers. Bet gas up there is more than $3 per gallon. Who fills them up, anyhoo?

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Farha, Bahrain — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 06:51:05 GMT

Shoots, we were actually thinking of buying some small telescope to watch the Mars so close enough. Wasnt the hoax really expensive? Alan, you saved our night of Mars-gazing.Thanks Buddy.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Otto Fobian, Durban, South Africa — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 14:57:44 GMT

I wonder how many folks rushed out to buy that new camera and telephoto lens they were contemplating? Is this hoax perhaps revived by camera and telescope resellers when new models are announced?

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

LC, Elko, NV — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:44:33 GMT

What is the exact time for this? It is 12:30am pacific time? central time? easter time? or what???
Please more detail.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Concerned Mommy, Washington, D.C. — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 20:18:31 GMT

THANK YOU for clarifying this myth! I feel rather dumb about falling for this "Mars hoax". I went to a top U.S. university receiving not one but three degrees (all related to business, thus it figures I would be naive about the cosmos). Anyways, the worse part is that my son's pre-school teacher took the time to print out several dozen of these hoax emails and meticulously put them in our children's cubbies for the parents to mark on our Blackberry calendars and have a Mars party on August 27th. Obviously she was fooled too, and our poor little tikes who are dependent upon their parents and educators to guide them academically would have been on the receiving end of such absurdity; and we wonder why our school systems are failing? Gosh, I feel dumb! Especially since I was academically trained to always check and double check your sources and citations. I am sad to say, but this “educated” mom got Punk'd! And what makes me mad; I almost perpetuated this ignorance to my offspring. I guess I can stop looking for Hubble like telescopes around town to celebrate and view such a sight with my kids:) THANKS AGAIN for YOUR ACCURATE INSIGHT!!! I will definitely check my sources next time!!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Alan Boyle — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:26:01 GMT

L.C., this was a hoax message, so the time is not really relevant. Sorry if that's confusing. Generally speaking, if folks are talking about looking at stars or planets, they would specify local time. If they're talking about eclipses, occultations, or very specific events, generally you would need to specify a time zome (e.g., ET, GMT). Our default time zone at MSNBC is U.S. Eastern time ... even though my office is physically in the Pacific time zone, the clocks on the walls are set to Eastern time.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Areej, Tabuk, KSA — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 13:43:16 GMT

Please would u specify the timing if it is eastern or pacific?

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Crystal, Ridgeland, South Carolina — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 16:33:07 GMT

Unfortunatly my daughter's school sent out a mass message to all of the students with this internet hoax on it. I'm sure you can imagine the effect on this. I saw the letter she brought home and I was like ok that cant be real. If it were it would be big news!!! So of course I did research and called her school to give them the bad news this morning. Needless to say I made them cry. I was not impressed as educators should know better and do a little research before telling a bunch of kids something like that. Anyway I imagine the school will be tarred and feathered over this one.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

fa;lfuo;,l;kuio;sdaf, oaifudo — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 17:10:13 GMT

Mars is gone for good, if your thinking seeing it with the naked eye.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

James, Tulsa, Oklahoma — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 18:01:16 GMT

Uh uh...its real (The internet says so)
>> << >>
You are a pirate!! ^^
((For the record...i know its not real, lol))

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Debbie P Vernon, NJ — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:26:51 GMT

So I believed it,dah - and i did my research on the internet. Now will get a good nites sleep instead.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

dawn, rockville, IN — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:32:02 GMT

well damn, break my heart.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Eric Solberg, Bay Area, California — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 00:32:02 GMT

How can you really be sure? I'm not sure that was the moon I saw last night, it was a little reddish. And why are we suddenly having all these heat waves, global warming, Mel Gibson freakouts, and wars and such? Sounds to me exactly like a perturbance in the gravity field caused by MARS! Of course, the elitist mainstream scienctists just want to keep us pleasantly sedated while we hurtle into the sun! Meanwhile, they're getting their rockets all ready to skip off Earth right at the last moment to escape doom on Mars... With Mars so close it takes a lot less fuel than you think! I should know, I read it on the internet! Its a conspiracy!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Elizabeth, Queensland, Australia — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:38:41 GMT

Thank you for this, my brother sent the warning email yesterday telling us to look out for it. I saw it in '03 and it wasnt really anything special, maybe 5 times the size of the red speck we know and love. As for believing everything you hear/read.. Well, they say that if you tell a person there are 50 million billion stars in the sky, they will believe you. But if you tell them the paint is wet, they will have to touch it to check. Go Figure. Maybe this hoax isnt so bad after all, lots of people will be gathered outside for quality family time to just sit, chill and look at the stars. In todays day and age, whats so bad about that?

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Walter Fufidio, Flagler Beach, FL — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 15:43:21 GMT

When that e-mail was forwarded to me, I recalled the 2003 proximity and felt something was wrong. The Internet spreads false rumors but, as your site demonstrates,it is also a fast reference for debunkers. Thnaks and please send your article to NASA.gov

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Phillip Froeter , Nashville , Tennessee — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 19:52:05 GMT

Thank you for clearing that up for everybody. I mean it seems that there would have been somthing on the news about it , if something like this was going to happen. Now i just hope that the person that sent it tro me will believe me when I tell her.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Isabelle le — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 20:58:00 GMT

I have email all of my friend from all over the world to waiting for this moment when it come...
But I am so glad the news form you guys. You have done a wondeful job in what you are doing....
Thanks! I almost spend a bunch of money at the book store for this.....and telescope...

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Margarita Baker, Lake Isabella, CA — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:56:14 GMT

Thanx for clearing this up, saved $$ on film, telescope always ready. The sad part is my grandchildren, as well as all the adults were very excited (there is no shame in getting excited about knowledge). Is the exclusion of Pluto also a hoax???

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Jodie, Australia — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 00:09:30 GMT

Many of you mention that if Mars was this close we'd be in trouble......just turn on the news and tell what a wonderful place the world is. Apart from the earth blowing up, how much more trouble do you need. We can't even get on any type of transport safely, what's up with that. Mars might not be as big as the moon, but from my observation, the planet of war is wreaking havoc in many coutries and destroying many lives. I don't believe the hoax, but lets face it, the world is in chaos.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Ed, White Bangkok, Thailand. — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 02:08:02 GMT

This story was passed from one email box to the other at my company here in Thailand. Some were excited about it other were not. When I got this I just clicked "delete" like I do with the rest of the junk mail. I knew that we had this event back in 2003, yet it was not a big as the moon. I think that on the 26 and 27th, I will go outside just to see how many people are looking in the sky for the moon sized MARS. This should be good. Talk about " Smile youre on candid camera" Global scale. LOL

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

C. Higgins, Chandler, AZ. — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 06:46:18 GMT

Well... many things have happened (and still will) that the "scientists" said would not or could not, blah, blah... I, myself, have no idea if it is true or not. What does it hurt to be up enjoying the sky at that hour? It doesn't hurt me to be up. If it doesn't happen, so what? If it does? Great -- I didn't miss it.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

crippled man — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 10:11:35 GMT

my doctor told me of this event and then i had to tell her that the email was a hoax. and
this from the cleveland clinic

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Jarrad, Cairns, Queensland, Australia — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 13:06:35 GMT

I guess my biggest concern is, now that people take an interest in astronomy, Pluto get's shafted into the "dwarf plants" category.
On top of 20 years of educating people on the 9 planets and the millions of dollars changing curriculums and textbooks worldwide - what the hell happens to my astrology now Pluto is no longer rising? *cries*

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

*** John Red Bluff Ca. — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 15:27:00 GMT

Enjoyed the hoax.But wondering why we couldn`t see it as it approached earth kind of put a damper on it.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Nick Sault, Wellington, New Zealand — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 20:21:44 GMT

Dear Sir

The misinformation about Mars close approach was not a hoax per se. It was a grand mistake.

Up until a few days ago, if you did a Google search "Mars Close Approach" the first returned entry was a piece about the Aug 27 2003 close approach. Since the date of the article is fairly well hidden, it appears to be current, and merely talks about the August 27 apparition.

Kids surfing the net and reading quickly, as kids do, have then circulated it amongst their friend, and they to their friends. The same thing happened at this time last year.

The problem is 3-fold. It's down to old articles hanging around on the internet that are not easy to spot that they are old. It is a problem with Google search engine that brings up an old page as its first return. And it is the age old problem that when a story gets passed from person to person, the facts become distorted.

Please do the search above. The old article is now number 2, since I complained to BBC a few days ago that it was their article (and other old reports) that was causing this misinformation to be perpetuated.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Sajeeth — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 20:36:18 GMT

Duh,
So , it was a Hoax..I was waiting (this very early morning)the whole night for the skies to clear out and watch a (supposedly) rare spectacle ..Only to be revealed that it was a planned hoax..
I know alleast 36 people around my town who too hav been fooled..

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Kalicharan — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 22:07:30 GMT

Its not a hoax, I am seeing it at the moment.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Hamza Padania, Atlanta, Georgia — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 06:18:13 GMT

I can't believe I stayed up untill 12:30am with my parents for this phony! It's just not right and out right stupid!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Gibran Ali, Karachi, Pakistan — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 07:01:13 GMT

I went out at night (12:30AM and 5:00AM) to see mars in the sky ... Found nothing...
Thanks for this useful article...

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

jessy,toroto,Ontario — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 20:47:53 GMT

I will wait to see it tonight. is it the same time zone?i want to see Mars.it's the rare opportunity.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

john , sydney N,S — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 21:55:47 GMT

I,Agree that this is just a Hoax..it is now 6:50pm in sydney n.s.. i will go with it and take a look tonight . ill play the game

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

L.R. CA — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 02:55:54 GMT

if it happes,amazing i caught it! if it doesnt, o well! it doesnt hurt to look does it? thanx if it does happen, at least i will be prepared

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Naaz,NJ — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 03:28:01 GMT

Oops .. got me .. Just came in after seraching high and low for the really BIG mars

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

M.A. California — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 05:07:12 GMT

Someone must really not have anything better to do than create a hoax like this... oh well, at least I didn't waste any time looking for it.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

alexis,miami,florida — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 07:01:08 GMT

hi my name is alexis. it's sad to have everybody waiting and excited for mars to come and children were staying up late and now i bet they are so sad for not seeing mars

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Brian Keinath — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:00:17 GMT

I think this simply confirms my theory that there is a finite amount of intelligence on planet earth...diluted further every year by population increase.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Javier Bakersfield ca — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:11:13 GMT

I think if Mars was at least 10 millions miles away we would see something a lot bigger then the moon. Mars did seem alot brighter the normal. Something to do on a Sunday, my kids were a little disappointed.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

ron, ohio — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:46:38 GMT

ha ha ha ha got me . . I saw two moons after the accident for a while, it seemed totally normal . .

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Lee Fuller, Portland Or — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 17:31:49 GMT

Not only are teachers telling their students this but the weekend weather reporter on one of our loacl stations also reported this. She said it would be spectacular and not to miss this. I sent her an email with a link to this article. I hope she reads it and doesn't just delete the email. You can lead a mind to knowledge, but you can't make it think!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Oakland, CA — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 19:47:34 GMT

Even this cloud had/has a silver lining! I volunteer at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, CA, and during the Mars hoax months since 2003, attendance shot up for the free public telescope viewing nights on Fridays/Saturdays by people wanting to see a monster-sized Mars through our three big telescopes. They were generally disappointed to not see such a spectacle, but were glad to have made the trip up, anyways, to see our more usual fare (Moon, planets, star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae). Just goes to show: there's no bad reason to visit your local science center; as long as it's legal, of course.

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Bejay, Helena, Mont. — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:26:28 GMT

Alas! I was looking forward to another cosmic phenomenon. Mars big as the moon. But I will have to be satisfied this year that Pluto just shrunk itself out of the Planet listing. Dwarfs unite!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Lhianne Plamio, manila, philippines — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 22:29:02 GMT

I actually waited for it! i even argued with my cousins about it.. At least now it was cleared and clarified! Kudos!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Dave shaw — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:06:31 GMT

Thank You for clarifying Mars. Now if someone could explain why there is no such thing as gravity, the earth sucks. We would all be better off

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Caliban Vesper, — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 00:18:21 GMT

I disagree with the whole Hoax nature being portrayed in this article. Everything you read on the internet is completely 100% true. If you don't believe Mars can approach close enough to mirrior the moon, just ask Flash Gordon. All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Jurie Brits, Johannesburg, South Africa — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:13:22 GMT

The character who wrote the hoax e-mail should be given a fine or even locked up for sending hoaxes like this one out into the world. It is high time we start clamping down on people who clutter the web with garbage!

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Amy O. South Dakota — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:58:53 GMT

I looked and looked for Mars tonight, but then got to thinking about how bogus it really did sound and had to do some research - although tomorrow there will be a Lunar Eclipse if I did my research right and this will last for an hour and a half

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

JS Canada — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:09:25 GMT

The hoax again is making circle of the globe this year for Mars to be like the moon on Aug 27th, 2008. Thanks for the information and I am glad I checked your article/clearification on the subject. No need to stay up and then fe3el stupid later. Thanks

Return of the Great Mars Hoax

Thomas W. Sagan, Columbus, Ohio — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:14:46 GMT

Was it just me? The morning after 9-11, as I was leaving to go to work, which is early in the morning,
the moon was in it's cresent phase, on its back. There was a star or planet either above or below the moon. I can't remember which direction.
Is this on the flag or a symbel of the country that was responsible for the distruction? Thanks, Tom.

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Stephanie, Las Vegas, NV — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:40:55 GMT

so it's August. This is the first time I have ever heard of the Mars Hoax. Big whoop if you stay up all night & it doesn't happen. What if you didn't stay up all night... Then you missed one of the most beautiful aspects of space life you could've ever seen! I'm definitely staying up. So what if I am tired when I wake up @6:30AM, get ready, go to school, then off to work later that evening. People wait on Jesus Christ all their lives & never actually see him. (That had no correlation but who gives a hoot. For the record, I'm Christian.) If my comment doesn't get posted because it goes against Mr. Boyle's theory, SO BE IT. I bet you're bottom dollar Alan... that you have stayed up the so-called August night of every year to make sure you were right. And in the back of your mind you were also wanting to make sure if it happened you would see it... So, that in the future you could write another blog about how it finally actually happened. C'mon what scientist would actually go to sleep on a night where space could be redefined?? In no way am I attacking you're blog. Please do not get the worng impression. I'm simply stating my opinions & further discussing my own thoughts like other people have about your blog. I recently went outside to check to see if anything remotely has changed because it is 9:37PM Pacific time. But, of course nothing. That still does not burst my bubble. If I get to see an amazing hoax that people, astronomers, scientists, etc. have been talking about for years, I will feel oh-so special that I was one of the proud and few who had an imagination & belief that Mars could be seen with the naked eye before the end of my lifetime. If America didn't have an imagination & instead had stubborn doubts, we would have never made it to the moon in the 60's. And wouldn't have the wonderful scientists we have today, like you Mr. Alan Boyle. Thank you for allowing me to express my feelings on this situation. Keep in mind, I only found out about this "Hoax" a few hours ago thanks to my younger brother's Science teacher in middle school. If not tonight... Maybe next year?? We will have to wait and see. Patience is a virtue. =)

[ALAN ADDS: Thanks so much for your note, but you're too kind to call me a "wonderful scientist" ... I'm just a guy who writes about scientists (although you could argue anybody who follows the scientific process is a scientist, just as anyone who writes is a writer). I don't stay up on August nights to see if Mars is coming for us, but I do stay up for August meteor showers. I did write about the Great Mars Hoax, as I have pretty much every year for a while, sorry if the hoax caused you any inconvenience.]