I've been willing to cut some slack for the mass of anomalists based on 1) ignorance of science and technical realms such as image processing; 2) recognition that they're products of a society that devalues science and critical thinking and celebrates intellectual self-indulgence--"whatever you want to be true is true". In that regard I've felt a certain obligation to try and remediate the situation.

Hoagland and Bara, in contrast, claim expertise, and so I cut them no slack whatsoever. Bara in particular pushes my buttons. He claims to be an expert at image processing, yet he routinely presents mangled images full of technical artifacts that are portrayed as alien artifacts. Some of Bara's evidence-tampering is more blatant: In the case of the "Glass Tubes" he had to extract irregular polygon shapes from MGS images to avoid including features that might disprove his assertions; most outrageously, a crater that would reveal even to the untrained eye that the surface relief is the opposite of what he claims. I must conclude deliberate intent to defraud. That's why I label Herr Bara Hoagland's Minister of Propaganda.

Remember that OffTopic discussion about a board for debunking this stuff? Particularly my dream matchup, "Blackwell versus Bara"? I'm serious. This is a golden opportunity to focus on a single well-defined set of assertions in their paper, and settle a few things and clear the air. Sign me up for the support team. I'll put my image processing skills up against Bara's any day.

--Robert