text: When the original photos were taken in 1976, there was the illusion that there was a face staring right back at the Viking 1. Shadows around the Face created this illusion that made it look like and Egyptian Pharaoh. When the 1976 photo was released for people to see, the caption read, "huge rock formation . . . which resembles a human head . . . formed by shadows giving the illusion of eyes, nose, and mouth." Even the experts immediately recognized the Face on Mars as just a natural landform with shadows.