The Phobos Probe Case

By Crusader1307

The Planet Mars. For centuries it has captured the imagination of Humankind. The stuff of Myth, Sci-fi and Fantasy The ''Red Planet'' has been Man's nearest neighbor to possibly be ''Home'' to an advanced Race of Extraterrestrial Life. Of course, this hope was dashed in 1976, when US Space Probes flew to The Planet and ''beamed back'' the first ever close-up pictures. A barren, Red and desolate World it seemed. In time, with advancements in Camera and Technology, Man would be able to land mobile exploration devices (''Rovers''). Better, high-quality film even experiments, would show Mars ''may have had'' microbial Life at one point. Even frozen ''water'' was discovered. But still not ''Ancient advanced Civilizations''. Many mysteries and unexplained ''artifacts'' (via photographs) are yet to be explained. But this ''tale'' is not about Mars directly. It is about one of it's two ''Moons'' (for want of a better word) mainly that of Phobos.

Phobos (''Sister'' to Mars secondary Moon Demos), is strange. It was not formed from Mars millennium ago as Earth's Moon was (caught in a gravitational ''dance''). In fact, Phobos seems to have nothing in common with Mars. This leads many in The Astronomical Community to assess that Phobos may have been a ''rouge wanderer'', that was trapped in The Planets gravitational pull Millions of years ago. But a closer look at Phobos finds some rather odd features. Photographs of the surface find (as expected), craters and such from countless impacts by Meteors and debris. But the overall composition appears very porous (almost volcanic in nature). Further, Phobos has strange Linear anomalies across it's surface. It is almost as if Phobos has an ''outer covering'' or shell. Could this mean that The Moon may be hollow or disguised to simply look like a Planetary ''body''.

This mystery became a major quest by the former Soviet Union, who in an unprecedented accepted assistance from The International Space Community at the time, to launch a series of Space Probes to actually land and sample Phobos. The Mission, which was launched in 1988 was ''Project: Phobos''. It consisted of (2) Probes, Phobos I & II. Almost immediately, disaster arrived. Halfway through Phobos I Mission, just within sight of The Moon, The Probe suddenly and without cause, lost it's geo-positioning in Space. It simply shut down and was lost. However, Phobos II remained active. That is until it was within several miles of Phobos, The Moon.

A series of (27) Black and White Photographs were sent back to Earth. In one, which was a close-up of Mars, a ''long, Black cylindrical Object'' was clearly seen ''rising'' from The Martian Surface. In another, which was a close-up of where The Phobo Probe was to land on The Moon, a strange ''Construct'' nicknamed ''The Tower'' can be seen very clearly. It resembles a Spire (such as The Washington Monument), jutting just above The Surface. The final photograph sent, showed what was either the previously described ''cylinder'' fast approaching The Probe or, as some have speculated, a ''beam of energy'', heading towards The Probe. Regardless, after this amazing ''picture'', Phobos II went dead. It is assumed that without power, The Probe either floated off into Space or would burn up upon uncontrolled reentry into The Martian Atmosphere.

These photographs were hidden from Public view for nearly 30 years, before they were made available. The Official Story was that Phobos II like it's ''Sister'' Probe, failed. No telemetry was sent. Now, these amazing pictures are considered a hoax. But many theories are put forth. The first is that perhaps Phobos was part of a Planetary Defense System, placed Eons ago (and still functioning). Other state that Phobos may have actually be a Probe, but not from some Ancient Martian Civilization. It may have come from ''somewhere else'' and was ''caught'' (as stated) in Mars gravity. Oddly, while Mars Exploration is still a reality (with actual Humans by 2030 we are told) no plans to re-visit Phobos are pending. Perhaps ''They'' no more than what ''They'' say..........................