The "Martians Have Landed" Story

It was another ordinary day. Watching a TV show about NASA's Curiosity Rover touching down on Mars at 1:31 AM EDT, August 5, 2012. Pretty remarkable. Almost like watching one of the really neat Sci-Fi movies of the 50s and 60s. I can remember Flash Gordon comic books when I was in my pre-teens. Mom and dad would buy me one to help me learn to read better. I was fascinated by Flash landing on a variety of different planets. Who would ever have thought that we would eventually accomplish something that was imagined in comic books in the 1940s. Unbelievable. I "Googled" early sci-fi movies about creatures from Mars and found a variety from the early 50s. A movie titled "Flight to Mars" made in 1951 was the first color sci-fi movie. About our first trip to Mars which uncovered a civilization split between the good guys and the bad guys. Something like Earth today. In the movie, can the heroes win? A 1952 movie called "Red Planet Mars" talks of radio waves that are received from Mars. Message is that if God is worshipped, Earth can be as great as Mars. But, are the messages really from Mars or something to do with Communism, hence the title. In 1953 "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars"; they land in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and think they are on Mars. Another '53 movie, "Invaders from Mars", was so good it was remade in 1986. And yet another '53 movie, "War of the Worlds" describes a meteor crashing on earth which happens to be a Martian spaceship. Only a bacteria can stop the Martians from destroying cities. This movie won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects. I do remember going to see "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" in which the Martians are in need of a Santa Claus and head to earth to kidnap ours. Martians in this movie are a bright green color. Today as I am watching photos of the Mars landscape I wonder ........ What am I really watching? Same thing happened when we eventually landed on the moon. Some people thought it was a Hollywood set and we really didn't land on the moon. I wonder ....... Well, a friend of my sent me a really cool video of the landing on Mars. See what you think for yourself. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.