In 1972 after a string of successful Apollo Missions with the exception of one mishap that ended in a lifesaving recovery, the mission was cancelled supposedly due to cost overruns! Apollo 17 would be the final manned landing on the moon. As a matter of fact, previous missions had been almost routine and unremarkable up until the sudden cancellation. Why? Thanks to released film footage never intended for public viewing, and verbal slip ups by several astronauts mentioning that we had come back from Mars missions, suspicions have been on the rise!

Films show the Red Planet as seen through the porthole of the ISV Columbus spacecraft supposedly launched from a Saturn V rocket and a secret missile base deep in the Amazon region. It seems that every launch from a satellite to a Russian space vehicle to a NASA mission could easily be tracked in the northern hemisphere, but from south of the equator, monitoring of space probes was not so accurate or anticipated either. From deep in the Amazonian forest, the launch of an interplanetary spacecraft would likely go undetected! According to theory, this is exactly what took place!

Remember that in 1959 the US Army proposed a moon base under Project Horizon in order to give the US a military presence on the moon as this would have been a deterrent to orbital threats to America but also would have provided surveillance over suspected extraterrestrial activity on the lunar surface. Using the Saturn II rocket, the mission was considered viable, but was never approved.

One must remember that Werner Von Braun had stated that the Saturn V rocket booster was powerful enough to take a payload to the edges of the solar system, so to travel to Mars wasn’t that far a stretch at all. A 158 day flight was planned for in order to attain orbit and land with a shuttle from ISV Columbus and secretly tackle Mars! As a matter of fact there is onboard footage of astronauts excitedly displaying 158 days with hand written sign in apparent black grease pencil.

NASA did train their Apollo Mission astronauts in the red sandy soils of desert environments to simulate alien terrain. This could have been misconstrued as the surface of Mars either accidentally or as a hoax! SO, if none of this every happened, why the gaffes of several Apollo Mission astronauts like Eugene Cernan, who let it slip? Why the Saturn V was over engineered for a moon flight if further distances were ultimately intended? After all, the Saturn II was already mission capable and cheaper to build if the only intention was the moon.

The skeptics who say that even a moon landing was impossible with the technology of the time and onboard computers with only the capability of an ATARI computer kid's game how would an extended 158 day mission to Mars be accomplished? Obviously, it would have taken a different spacecraft the L.E.M. and Orbital Command Module. Yet, is ISV Columbus really did carry the crew, Saturn V was surely capable of the distance and the payload!

In addition to the successful landing, there have been reports of artifacts that display ancient ruins some that even approximate Egyptian architecture! We have all seen the photos of what appear to be the “Face on Mars” taken by the Viking probe in 1976. Richard Hoagland, former NASA scientist did extensive computer assisted studies of not only the face but surrounding pyramid type structures, so was NASA eager to verify what was suspected by satellite flyby photos?  

To make this even more of a bizarre assertion, this was supposed to have been a joint Soviet and US venture, and during the existence of the “Cold War” this would have been a monumental example of cooperation! So, did we go to Mars or not? There have been many slips of the tongue by such astronauts as Buzz Aldrin and Eugene Cernan who were big proponents of permanent colonies where those who ventured to Mars would remain to set up life supporting infrastructure! However, we know now that a purely mechanical and robotic approach to setting up facilities would pre-empt the landing of crews that would begin long term occupation of the Martian surface. This based upon plans drawn up by Elon Musk and his industries. This remains to be a tantalizing insight into a possible secret mission that until recently remained classified!