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Skeptical Look At Richard C. Hoagland 65

The Face Behind the The Scrupulously Skeptical Hoagland alleged in one Hoagland handout. . . .
* Hoagland said a source at [NASA's]
"Face" on Mars: But like a Hollywood marriage, the Goddard Space Flight Center . . . leaked him a

Hoagland/Harder relationship didn't last, and by pristine negative from the Apollo 10 mission
A Skeptical Look at 1992 Hoagland was no longer a fixture, or even showing a 1 1/2-mile-high "shard" protruding
Richard C. Hoagland a footnote, on For The People. The reason from the lunar surface. . . . "I see absolutely
(improbable as it sounds): Apparently Hoagland nothing like the so-called shard," said Paul
had seen fit to chastise Harder for promoting a Lowman, a Goddard geologist and expert in
wild claim without first having nailed down the orbital photography, after examining the frame
Continued from Page 64
facts! Harder had been hyping a story about an cited at the news conference. "He's seeing some
"intelligently guided" asteroid that was slowly sort of a [photo] processing defect."
decelerating, and making course corrections, as In 1998, a bit more than a decade after
Although Premanand's letter of reply
it worked its way toward the inner solar system. publication of The Monuments of Mars, the
never made its way back to me, mine did reach
An authentic-looking New York Times article, Mars Global Surveyor orbital craft returned an
him. I was quite surprised, and delighted, to
dated October 6, 1977, quoted a number of image of the "Face" (Photo #22003) with more
discover that, as a result of my letter, he had
scientists as confirming the artificial nature of than 10x greater resolution than Viking had
devoted nine pages to this subject in the April
the "asteroid," and projecting that it would enter obtained two decades earlier. Contrary to
1995 issue of his group's Indian Skeptic
Earth's orbit, between Earth and Moon, on or Hoagland's theories, the new 20/20 view (right)
newsletter (in which a copy of my letter was
about October 25 -- 1977! The fact that no such revealed the "Face" to be nothing more than
reproduced). Premanand wrote about his efforts
event had occurred was not enough to quash what NASA scientists knew it to be all along,
to track down Dr. Paramahamsa Tewari, who,
Harder's fascination. Writing in the first 1992 one of many similar natural features sculpted
according to a 1987 Indian newspaper account,
issue of UFO (Vol. 7, No. 1), the magazine's into the dusty, rocky surface by the red planet's
had demonstrated his machine in Hannover,
research director, Don Ecker, reported that fierce, swirling winds. And a 1999 view of the
Germany, before an audience that included
Hoagland had "embarrassed host Chuck Harder "City Square" (Release No. MOC2-142)
1,500 scientists from around the world. His
on the air, thereby severing his weekly spot on revealed it, also, to consist of nothing more than
Space Power Generator (SPG), one of about
Harder's show. . . . On one of Hoagland's weekly buttes and hills. [Also see 1998 view.]
twenty-five similar machines presented at that
spots, he attacked Harder on the air, lambasting With benefit of hindsight, has Hoagland
conference, supposedly extracts power from the
him for giving out the story without, according now abandoned his "City" on Mars? A visit to
vacuum of space. Though the prototype was said
to Hoagland, checking out the facts. . . . It turned his "Enterprise Mission" Web site reveals quite
to have been built at the Tarapur Atomic Plant in
out that when the New York Times Index was the opposite.
India, Premanand could find no one in the
checked, along with microfiche copies from that
Department of Science & Technology of the
date and several days after, no such article could On April 14, 1997, Hoagland posted a Press
Indian government who knew of Dr. Tewari or
be found." [Update: Following publication of Release discussing "Hoagland's 17-year-old
his SPG.
this article in Skeptical Inquirer, I have been detailed model of a liquid 'satellite-wide ocean
In a June 21, 1994, letter (reproduced in
informed by a reader that the split between under the icefields of Europa,'" with no credit
Indian Skeptic), N. A. Janardan Rao, Vice
Hoagland and Harder was not permanent, and given to Cassen, Peale, Reynolds, and the rest.
President for R&D and Technology
that Hoagland has been a frequent guest on The Release also reprised Arthur C. Clarke's
Development of Kirloskar Electric Company
Harder's radio program during the past few outdated credit to Hoagland as the originator of
Ltd. in Bangalore, wrote (to the author of a 1994
years. But also see Chuck Harder's comments, the idea, and complained that "Official
Indian newspaper article), "Many years ago I
sent to me in November 2003.] recognition of Hoagland's clear priority in
had corresponded with Dr. Thiwari [sic] and he
On March 21, 1996, the scrupulously successfully predicting this immense discovery
had sent me a small book written by him on this
skeptical Hoagland presented his best evidence has, however, been curiously slow in coming
subject. I then proceeded to actually design and
for extraterrestrial civilizations during a news inside NASA."
fabricate a free energy machine. We incurred an
conference at the National Press Club in
expense of more than one hundred thousand
Washington, D.C. According to Richard Leiby's On September 13, 2000, after my above article
rupees and 8 man months in fabricating this
article in the following day's Washington Post, was posted but before its publication in
unique device. Subsequent testing showed that
* Reporters from about 50 worldwide Skeptical Inquirer, Hoagland posted a new Press
there was no free energy as claimed; an
media organizations came to see . . . Release, subtitled "Hoagland Confirmed Again,"
infinitesimal electrical output was detected
"suppressed evidence" . . . "apparent lunar which said that "even NASA's most ardent
which could be attributed entirely to Faraday's
ruins" . . . [and other] proof of aliens. They Hoagland haters are being forced to admit that
law" (emphasis added).
scrutinized grainy blowups of old NASA photos Hoagland's overarching model of Europa --
Rao's letter went on to provide Tewari's
whereabouts: He turned out to be Director of the and slides of impossibly fuzzy objects -- which included over 20 years ago some kind of
including a blob that [Hoagland's] assembled highly evolved, living organism's [sic]
Kaiga Project for the Indian government's
research team called "the castle." To be more potentially swimming in that ocean -- is almost
Nuclear Power Corporation in Karwar,
precise: "an extraordinary, highly geometric, certainly correct." The Release added that "some
Karnataka. Premanand then wrote to Tewari,
glittering glass object hanging more than nine critics have now desperately launched a full
whose August 25, 1994, letter of response
miles above the surface of the moon," in the blown, rear-guard attempt to remove Hoagland
reported, "The experiments on various models
words of Richard Hoagland, the New Jersey from his historically preeminent position on this
of Space Power Generators are continuing with
author and noted pseudo-scientist who issue. . . . [D]esperate, last-ditch efforts have
a hope to come out with the most commercially
[organized] the conference. even included recent charges of outright fraud -
viable system. . . . By end September [1994] one * Hoagland, 50, is, basically, a kook. - bizarre claims that Hoagland has attempted to
of the machines [should] be in operating
He's famous for popularizing the sighting of an take false credit for Cassen, Reynolds and
condition."
alleged "human face" in the terrain of Mars, and Peale's original published work on the European
Six more years have since transpired,
he more recently claimed that the Bosnian peace [sic] tidal stresses." That Release did not
with still no confirmation of the miracle
talks were held in Dayton, Ohio, so the world specifically cite my above article or Ralph
machine that Hoagland and Harder had touted as
leaders could view alien bodies housed in an Air Greenberg's Web site (and neither of us is
operational (and sold books about) back in 1990.
Force hangar there. associated with NASA).
No matter. Largely with Hoagland's help, For
* But . . . the collective media didn't
The People's ratings (according to Harder)
snort with laughter and walk out. Instead, Hoagland also proudly boasts on his Web site of
soared that year (e.g., up by more than 1,000% journalists politely asked [questions]. . . . Later, being the recipient of the first International
in Gainesville, Florida). Given the program's
reporters from CNN and the Associated Press, Angstrom Medal for Excellence in Science.
(and its companion magazine's) pro-paranormal,
among others, called Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Though true enough, this "award" is apparently
conspiratorial bent, such is certainly
Bean to ask whether he'd ever stood on the moon not the prestigious honor that one might assume,
understandable.
near a "massive tier of glass-like ruins," as given its name. []