What is Cydonia?
On 20 July 1976 the NASA Orbiter spacecraft descended to a mere 1,000 feet (300 meters) above the nearly airless Martian desert to take unprecedented pictures of the planet, snapping images of an area called Cydonia. Cydonia is primarily known for a feature contained in those images in frame 35A72, known as the Face. This feature is one mile long (1.6 kilometers) and rises 1,500 feet (457 meters) above the Martian desert. It resembles a humanoid face, sphinx-like in appearance. Cydonia also contains other interesting features that drew the attention of some researchers and a few scientists. Most of these features are pyramid-like in shape, and two of these — one deemed the D&M pyramid — are 5-sided. The features appeared artificial to some and resemble ancient architecture found on Earth. NASA’s position on Cydonia was that the images of the area showed only natural features and tricks of light. Most of the scientific community agreed. In fact once the Face appeared on tabloid covers
