text: The Face on Mars is what you would call the Martian equivalent of a mesa, a natural landform that is common in the American West. The scientists assumed so whenit first appeared on screen, but this particular mesa had shadows that made it look kind of like an Egyption Pharaoh. When releasing the images to the public, the author of the article made it sound like the eighth wonder of the world, trying to attract attention to Mars, and it worked.