text: One reason we know the Face was not created by aliens is because of it's similarities to landforms on earth. The Face is "the Martian equivalent" of landforms common to the American West called mesas. Jim Garvin, chief scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, commented on the similarities. "It reminds me most of Middle Butte in the Snake River Plain of Idaho...That's a lava dome that takes the form of an isolated mesa about the same height as the Face on Mars." The fact that the Face resembles a natural landform here on Earth supports the idea of the Face also being a natural landform.