A video shared Thursday discusses how NASA used to — and may still — digitally alter images of Mars before releasing them to the general public.
Space.com argued in 2019 that it’s a good thing NASA digitally alters (or photoshops) images — not just of Mars, but of many aspects of our cosmos released to the public. The outlet suggested that editing lets scientists and the public gain a better understanding of the objects in our immediate vicinity in space, but in reality, the decision to manipulate images also leads to massive distrust.
A video released Thursday by The Why Files broke down how NASA has altered images of Mars for decades, and why it’s such a weird thing to do. While some of the video focuses on specific cover-ups and NASA’s seeming refusal to do any research the general public has called for, it’s the manipulation of imagery released to the public that really feels out of order.
Did you know NASA literally used to put a red tint over photographs of Mars? I know we all call it the “Red Planet,” but that’s more so because Mars appears red in the skies above us. The landscape on Mars is actually eerily similar to Earth — if our planet had been obliterated by a nuclear bomb, that is (which it almost definitely wasn’t).
In fact, Mars could have been almost the same as Earth, millions of years ago. It has an atmosphere, there are clear signs water used to sit on its surface.
But why would NASA put an obvious red tint over photos released to the public? NASA is not part of the entertainment industry (or so we think), so the images they collect and release should be 100% clear and accurate. Scientific analysis is only possible with clean images, so Space.com can shove it if their writers actually believe altered photos are worth their weight in any capacity.
How anyone in the so-called scientific community can suggest something so absurd is beyond me. (RELATED: Dear Kay: I Watched ‘Ancient Apocalypse’ And Now I’m Scared We’re Going To Die Before 2025)
The Why Files — who debunked a fair few of the mysteries of Mars in their latest video — really did a great job of trying to figure out the how and the why, but the questions still remain. Let’s hope Musk and his fellow elite billionaires on their way up to Mars can give us a solid answer before the next big cataclysm sends us back to the Dark Ages!
Watch the video here (in full), and decide for yourself what the heck is going on with this massive disinformation campaign by NASA: