In 1976, NASA was more than happy to release photos sent back by their pioneering Viking 1 space probe. Among those photos there was a mysterious image that would set the UFO community’s collective imagination to focus on our rocky red neighbor. Of the 40 missions sent to Mars, only 18 have been deemed successful. Although, the success rate seems impressive when weighed against the many challenges of landing and surviving on the martian planet surface. Dust storms that can last for months and cover huge areas of the planet, a barely-there atmosphere, and the planet lacks the protection granted by an intrinsic global magnetic field.  For those reasons alone scientists have been hesitant to consider Mars a suitable place for a human space settlement. But there are claims that shadowy space programs have been sending people there for years. Claims that the planet was previously populated and that perhaps those martian habitants have even been living among us to save us from the same events that doomed their once thriving planet. This case file join the Theorists as they Ack ack ack ACK and explore...The Mars Mysteries  Support The Alien Theorists on PatreonPatreon tiers:$1 gets you early access to every case file and access to our discord server!$3 gets you early access to every case file, access to our discord server and all afterhours casefile content:$5 gets you early access to every case file, access to our discord server, all afterhours casefile content and access to all ATT bonus podcasts and content. 70+ hours of exclusive material, the full meal deal.$10 gets you everything plus entry into our monthly M.E.A.T draw with exclusive merch!Buy merch and one-time donationsalientheorists.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/alien-theorists-theorizing/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands