Two Moons

The Mars Hoax

by Lane Clay

August 31, 2007

Millions of people received an e-mail in the past week saying that early Monday morning the planet Mars would be so large and brilliant that it would appear that there were two moons in the sky. Well, as cool as that would be, it just wasn’t true, as are several things that sound too good to be true. It was part of a pretty large scale practical joke. This e-mail, however, did contain a kernel of truth, though relatively outdated. Exactly this time four years ago, Mars was as close to Earth as we’ll ever see it, because it won’t be by again for a couple hundred years. That much is true, but who wants to know something four years after the fact? But it just goes to show you, even though Al Gore did a great job inventing the internet, you can’t always believe everything you see. I know there were a few people that fell for it and found themselves staying up for nothing, only to return to bed disappointed. I believed the rumors at first until I realized that none of the 2,000 news programs on television had mentioned anything about it. After a little fact checking I discovered that if Mars ever appears as large as the moon in the sky, it would mean big trouble. For this too happen, Mars would have to be 74 times closer to Earth than it already is and would be that it had jumped its orbit and be heading straight for our planet. The night sky is always something pretty amazing to look at, but when people think they’re funny, it tends to be another story. If you waited up, I’m sorry, if not, I hope you slept well. I was up, but I was in my room lip synching to the most recent Carrie Underwood CD.