1976 · Cydonia, Mars
The pyramids of Cydonia
When1976 – today
WhereCydonia, Mars
Backing2 independent
Evidencedocuments
A few kilometres from the Face sits the 'D&M pyramid', named for DiPietro and Molenaar, a five-sided mountain whose angles researcher Erol Torun argued were too regular to be natural. Nearby, Richard Hoagland saw a cluster of pyramid-like hills he called 'the City', and a 'Fort'. To believers the arrangement, with the Face looking toward the City, reads as a planned site.
Evidence, in date order (2)
- 1999Crater & McDaniel 1999documentfound the Cydonia mounds form repeated triangles far more often than random placement predicts Crater & McDaniel 1999: 'Mound configurations on the Martian Cydonia plain'
- 2016Crater, McDaniel & Sirisena 2016documentHiRISE re-analysis in which the triangle pattern held Crater, McDaniel & Sirisena 2016: 'The Mounds of Cydonia'
How plausible · Moderate
Official images show the landforms and two published studies support Torun's geometry; artificial origin remains interpretation.
- ●●Checkable details check out Viking and HiRISE frames.
- ●○Access Public mission images.
- ●○No gain sought Nothing sold.
- ●○Character record A named cartographer.
- ●○Independent convergence Two published studies.
- ●○Physical traces or official reaction Imagery.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- Viking orbiter images of Cydonia, 1976.
- NASA's 2013 release of a HiRISE view of the D&M pyramid landform (PIA04745).
Claims
Erol Torun's geometric analysis showing repeated angles and ratios in the D&M pyramid.analysisSourced, unconfirmedErol Torun
Cydonia was built by an earlier civilization, possibly the same one remote viewers saw in 1984.Mars 1 million BCspeculationSourced, unconfirmedbelievers
Where
Cydonia, Mars
40.7°N 9.5°W on Mars
In The picture
Something oldGraham Hancock argues that a lost civilization was wiped out by that catastrophe and passed its knowledge on. Radar researchers say shafts and chambers run 650 m under Khafre, a claim not yet peer-reviewed; their one published Giza paper, on Khufu, was retracted in 2026 for method errors that the journal has not deta…
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People and organizations
The Enterprise Mission orgErol Torun personGraham Hancock personRichard Hoagland personVincent DiPietro personCydonia (Mars) placeCrater & McDaniel 1999: 'Mound configurations on the Martian Cydonia plain' documentCrater, McDaniel & Sirisena 2016: 'The Mounds of Cydonia' documentReality Check: 'Is there a ruined civilization on Mars? A theoretical physicist runs the numbers' document