[/caption]There is a very large hoax widely circulating the Internet. It originated in the summer of 2004, and it's now rising up once more. This hoax comes in the form of an email titled "Mars Spectacular," it originates from an unknown source. The Mars hoax email has been passed on to countless people who haven't been able to resist forwarding it to their entire address book. In some cases, the message has been more than just an email. It's been a full-blown presentation with photos and graphics that seemingly provide a sense of authenticity to the message.
The email says that on the night of August 27, the planet Mars will be closer to Earth than it has been in 60,000 years. This will supposedly offer spectacular views of the Red Planet.
The email also proclaims that Mars will be as big as the moon, and will be very visible in the night sky.
The only problem with this is the dates and a few specifics. The August 27 is actually August 27, 2003. That was when Mars made a historically close pass by Earth that night (34.6 million miles). The Hubble Space Telescope used this opportunity to take some fantastic images of Mars, however, to the naked eye, Mars was nothing more than a very bright yellow-orange star. It was nothing like the full moon.
Continue reading about the Mars Hoax on the next page.
"The proximity of Mars to Earth in 2003, while indeed closer than in the past 60,000 years, was nonetheless no more meaningful than me swimming a hundred yards out from the California coast (instead of my usual seventy yards) and then declaring to the world, 'I have never been this close to China before,'" says Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of New York's Hayden Planetarium.
This year, Mars is much less conspicuous than in 2003. That means that if you follow the instructions in that hoax email, you will be disappointed by what you see.
You can, however, go out and look at the Moon, which is sure to be nice.
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