Richard C. Hoagland

Richard Charles Hoagland (born April 25, 1945), is an American author, and a proponent of various conspiracy theories about NASA, lost alien civilizations on the Moon and on Mars and other related topics.

His writings claim that advanced civilizations exist or once existed on the Moon, Mars and on some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and that NASA and the United States government have conspired to keep these facts secret. He has advocated his ideas in two published books, videos, lectures, interviews,^[5][6] and press conferences.^[7][8]

Hoagland has been described by James Oberg of The Space Review, Phil Plait of Badastronomy.com, and Ralph Greenberg, a professor at Washington University, as a conspiracy theorist and fringe pseudoscientist.^[9][10][11] His book publisher describes him as "...a unique mixture of amateur scientist, genius inventor, scam artist, and performer, blending true, legitimate speculative science with his own extrapolations, tall tales, and inflations."^[12]

Background

According to Hoagland's curriculum vitae^[2] he was a Curator of Astronomy and Space Science at the Springfield Science Museum, 1964–1967, and Assistant Director at the Gengras Science Center^{[note 2]} in West Hartford, Connecticut, 1967–1968, and a Science Advisor to CBS News during the Apollo program, 1968–1971. In July 1968, Hoagland filed a copyright registration for a planetarium presentation and show script called The Grand Tour.^[13] In 1969, he was contracted by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation to write a chapter about the Moon for a press book. The Grumman publication was intended to educate members of the media and government officials concerning the Apollo Lunar Module.

A popular planetarium lecturer at the Springfield Science Museum, Hoagland produced a program called "Mars: Infinity to 1965" to coincide with the Mariners 3 and 4 missions.^[14] Charles Renaud produced^[15] a radio program for WTIC (AM) in Hartford, Connecticut, The Night of the Encounter, which covered the July 14, 1965 Mariner 4 flyby of the planet Mars.^{[note 3]} Hoagland was interviewed for the program at the Springfield Science Museum by WTIC announcer Dick Bertel.

In 1976, Hoagland, an avid Star Trek fan, initiated a letter-writing campaign that successfully persuaded President Gerald Ford to name the first Space Shuttle the Enterprise, replacing the previously slated name for the prototype vehicle, Constitution.^{[16][note 4]} The Enterprise was rolled out for public display on September 17, 1976, Constitution Day.

Hoagland authored the book The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever (published in 1987), and co-authored the book Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA, which was ranked 21st on November 18, 2007 on The New York Times Best Seller list for paperback nonfiction.^[17] Richard Grossinger, the founder of North Atlantic Books, writes that Monuments became the most successful title published by North Atlantic, and that at its peak the book sold over 2000 copies per month.^[12] Grossinger also reports that Hoagland wrote much of the book while in Los Angeles county jail.^[12]

Hoagland runs The Enterprise Mission website,^[18] which he describes as "an independent NASA watchdog and research group, the Enterprise Mission, attempting to figure out how much of what NASA has found in the solar system over the past 50 years has actually been silently filed out of sight as classified material, and therefore totally unknown to the American people."^[19]

Hoagland appeared regularly as the "Science Advisor" for Coast to Coast AM, a late-night radio talk show, until being replaced by Robert Zimmerman in July 2015.^[20]

While Hoagland makes frequent reference to his receipt of the "International Angstrom Medal for Excellence in Science" in August 1993, the organization that awarded the medal, The Angstrom Foundation Aktiebolag, founded by Lars-Jonas Ångström, was not authorized by Uppsala University or the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to make use of the academy's Anders Jonas Ångström memorial medal. The academy has long authorized only Uppsala University to use their medal for the Ångström's Prize (Ångströms premium), awarded yearly by Uppsala professors to physics students. Mr. Ångström stated in May 2000 that although his award to Hoagland was a mistake, he acted with good faith and with good intentions.^{[3][21][22][23]}

Claims by Hoagland

Richard C. Hoagland claims the source of a so-called NASA "coverup", with relation to the "Face on Mars" and other related structures, is the result of a report commissioned by NASA authored by the Brookings Institution, the so-called Brookings Report. The 1960 report, entitled "Proposed Studies on the Implications of Peaceful Space Activities for Human Affairs," is claimed by Hoagland, on page 216 of the report, to instruct NASA to deliberately withhold from the public any evidence it may find of extraterrestrial activity, specifically, on the moon, Mars or Venus.

Hoagland has also proposed a form of physics he calls "hyperdimensional physics",^[24][25] which he claims represents a more complete implementation of James Clerk Maxwell's original 20 quaternion equations,^[26] instead of the original Maxwell's equations as amended by Oliver Heaviside commonly taught today.^[27] These ideas are rejected by the mainstream physics community as unfounded.^{[28][29][30][31][32]}

Hoagland claims the "Face on Mars" is part of a city built on Cydonia Planitia consisting of very large pyramids and mounds arranged in a geometric pattern.^[33] To Hoagland, this is evidence that an advanced civilization might once have existed on Mars.^[33] In the years since its discovery, the "face" has been near-universally accepted as an optical illusion,^[11] an example of the psychological phenomenon of pareidolia.^[28][34][35] Similar optical illusions can be found in the geology of Earth;^[36] examples include the Old Man of the Mountain, the Pedra da Gávea, and Stac Levenish.^[37]

Although the Pioneer 10 plaque was designed entirely by Carl Sagan, Linda Salzman Sagan, and Frank Drake,^[38] Hoagland has inaccurately asserted that he co-created the plaque with Eric Burgess.^[39]

Responses by scientists

Many scientists have responded to Hoagland's claims and assertions. Professional astronomer Phil Plait described Hoagland as a pseudoscientist and his claims as ridiculous.^[10] Plait has also criticized Hoagland for having no university degree.^[21] Prof. Ralph Greenberg asserted that the logic of Hoagland's deductions from the geometry of Cydonia Mensae is flawed^[11] and says that he is not a trained scientist in any sense. The claim that the crashing of the Galileo orbiter into Jupiter caused a "mysterious black spot" on the planet has since been disputed by both NASA and Plait. There is photographic evidence that a similar "black spot" was present in imagery of Jupiter taken in 1998. A second image referenced by Plait shows a dark ring which looks similar to the spot Hoagland cited.^[40] In 1995, Malin Space Science Systems, NASA prime contractor for planetary imaging, published a paper critiquing claims that the "city" at Cydonia is artificial, the claimed mathematical relationships, and — very specifically — denying any claims about concealing questionable data from the public.^[41]

In October 1997, Hoagland received the Ig Nobel Prize for Astronomy "for identifying artificial features on the moon and on Mars, including a human face on Mars and ten-mile high buildings on the far side of the moon." The prize is a parody award given for outlandish or "trivial" contributions to science.^[4]

Publications

Books

• Hoagland, Richard C. (2002). The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever (5th ed.). Berkeley: Frog, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-58394-054-9. 
• Hoagland, Richard C.; Bara, Mike (2009). Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA, Revised and Expanded Edition. Port Townsend: Feral House. ISBN 978-1-932595-48-2. 
• Hoagland, Richard C. (2015). Grossinger, Richard, ed. New Horizon ... for a Lost Horizon, chapter in : Pluto: New Horizons for a Lost Horizon. North Atlantic Books. p. 312. ISBN 978-1583948972. 

Contributions, introductions, forewords

• Hoagland, Richard C.; Bova, Ben (May 1977). "The origin of the solar system". In Bova, Ben; Bell, Trudy E. Closeup: new worlds. Chapter by Richard C. Hoagland and Ben Bova. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-14490-6. 
• Haas, George J.; Saunders, William R. (2005). The Cydonia Codex: Reflections from Mars. Forewords by Dr. Mark J. Carlotto and Richard C. Hoagland. ISBN 978-1-58394-121-8. 
• NASA (1972). "The Moon". In Hoagland, Richard C. NASA Apollo Spacecraft Lunar Excursion Module News Reference. Chapter by Richard C. Hoagland. Periscope Film LLC (published September 2011). ISBN 978-1-937684-98-3. 

Videos

• Hoagland, Richard C. (Author (with NASA Lewis Research Center)) (1990). Monuments of Mars: City on the Edge of Forever (VHS tape). Cleveland, OH: NASA Lewis Research Center. OCLC 23350482. 
• Hoagland, Richard C. (Executive Producer, Writer (with Geline, Robert J.)) (1992). The Monuments of Mars: A Terrestrial Connection (VHS tape). New York: BC Video Inc. OCLC 41520112. 
• Hoagland, Richard C. (1996). Hoagland's Mars, Vol. 1, The NASA-Cydonia Briefings (VHS tape). Venice, CA: UFO Central Home Video. OCLC 41559991. Short version, revised and updated 
• Hoagland, Richard C. (Disk 1: "The Gods of Cydonia: The Case for Ancient Artificial Structures in the Solar System") (2005). God, Man and ET: The Question of Other Worlds in Science, Theology, and Mythology (DVD). Venice, CA: Knowledge 2020 Media. OCLC 58528205. 

Notes

References

External links

• Official website

Hoagload biography sites

• Richard C. Hoagland - Guests - Coast to Coast AM Richard C. Hoagland's biography and list of guest appearances on Coast to Coast AM.
• Richard C. Hoagland at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard C. Hoagland at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Richard C. Hoagland on Facebook

Debunking websites

• Oberg, James (January 21, 2008). "The dark side of space disaster theories". The Space Review. Retrieved November 16, 2012. 
• Plait, Phil (2008). "Richard Hoagland's Nonsense". Bad Astronomy (Blog). badastronomy.com. Retrieved November 16, 2012. 
• Dr. Ralph Greenberg, Professor of Mathematics (2004). "Richard C. Hoagland Index". Department of Mathematics, University of Washington. Archived from the original on 2013-10-07. Retrieved 2014-07-30. 
• Posner, M.D., Gary P. (November 2000). "The Face Behind the "Face" on Mars: A Skeptical Look at Richard C. Hoagland". Skeptical Inquirer. 
• Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast
  • Ep 26: Richard C. Hoagland, Part 1 - 19.5°
  • Ep 59: The Face on Mars, Part 1
  • Ep 60: The Face on Mars, Part 2
  • Ep 68: Expat in Hoaglandia: A Fantasia of NASA Conspiracies
  • Ep 72: Solar System Mysteries "Solved" by PseudoScience, Part 1 - Iapetus
  • Ep 79: Is the Movie "John Carter" a Leak by Those "In the Know?"
  • Ep 82: How to Design a Hyperdimensional Physics Experiment - Discusses Hoaglands claims about torsion physics and how to go about testing them.
  • Ep 88: Is Phobos Hollow? - Discussion of Richard Hoaglands 2010 claims that the Martian moon, Phobos is hollow.