Relationships Between Disasters in Past Civilizations and Harsh Conditions on Mars Volume 10 - Issue 5

Wanpeng Sun*

• Independent Researcher, Canada

Received: May 14, 2025;   Published: May 22, 2025

Corresponding author: Wanpeng Sun, Independent Researcher, Canada

DOI: 10.32474/JAAS.2025.10.000349

 

Abstract PDF

Abstract

Mars, the “Red Planet”, is the closet planet to our earth. Currently, the smartest investors in the world and dedicated government agencies from different countries are paying billions of dollars to send humans to Mars, aiming for a self-sustaining city by 2050. It is not only a dream to achieve the multi-planetary civilization, but also a reality to preserve human species in case of severe disasters. With the advance of technologies, it is very promising for humans to establish new colonies in Mars, and make Mars a livable habitat.

While Mars is to become a livable habitat for human in future, it is raising the question: was it a livable habitat in the far-ancient past? If so, what happened? In his paper published at the decent Journal of Cosmology as well as the 2016 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics SPACE Forum, Brandenburg proposed his famous hypothesis that Mars hosted an advanced civilization before nuclear (n) events, which destroyed the civilization and left Mars barren. Further, he proposed two prehistorical civilizations, to as the Cydonians and Utopians.

In this article, we will scientifically examine this possibility. Moreover, this article will discuss the possibilities of how past civilizations could turn a joyful human habitats to today’s harsh conditions in Mars – either because of conflicts arising within human society or something else. We will also discuss the worries of future human civilizations in Mars, to avoid same tragedy happens again and again in future.

Keywords: Records of the Grand Historian; Cydonian Civilization; Multi-planetary Civilization; Astrology; Dark Forest Hypothesis; the Sun Theory of Evolution; Sun Model of Civilization; Great Filter Theory

Introduction

Mars is the closest planet to Earth. Currently, ambitious engineers are developing technologies to enable humans to reach Mars, with the goal of establishing a self-sustaining Martian city by 2050. In the near future, visiting Mars could become a reality. Nowadays, the development of Martian colonies is an increasingly promising topic.

Mars is often called the “Red Planet” due to its reddish appearance, caused by iron oxide (rust) on its surface. It is frequently described as a “red dead” planet with no liquid water, no plants, no magnetic field, and an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide (CO₂). However, this popular description is not entirely accurate, as will be discussed in the following sections. Additionally, many previously released images of Mars depict it as overly red, much redder than the yellowish-brown color of actual iron rust. Recent images from NASA’s rovers have shown Mars in its natural color, which is less red and more similar to parts of Earth (Figure 1). This has led some to speculate that earlier images of Mars were red-filtered. What really happened to Mars?

According to Brandenburg [1-2], Mars hosted an advanced civilization (sometimes called “Cydonians”) before N events, which destroyed the civilization and left Mars barren, because N events were stripping away much of its atmosphere and water. His theory is supported by the excess abundance of Uranium and related chemicals, as well as archeological artifacts discovered by analyzing Mars images. Further, more details are disclosed in his book [3]: there are two past civilizations in Mars, Cydonians and Utopians, centered in the regions of Cydonia Mensa and Galaxias Chaos, respectively, both of which were destroyed by severe N disasters that removed all biospheres on that planet. Though many scientists thought it could be a reasonable explanation for current Mars condition, they did not satisfy with the Bran denburg’s theory – for example, how N events stripped away most of its atmosphere at once or even twice? Most of its water was stripped away or actually became frozen due to the cooling down of temperature? How can Mars become red due to the events? There are 95% CO2 in Mars atmosphere, but very few oxygen; is it good for human to live? Or there was more oxygen than CO2 for human to live, prior to the disaster? If so, how this changed? There should be plants, magnetic fields, reasonable temperature and air pressure for human to live, prior to the disaster? If so, how? These questions make Brandenburg’s theory become fringe. All of these concerns should be clarified in more details. This article will answer such questions, so the past civilization of Mars will be examined from better angles.

There are also secret experiments that are carrying out to study Mars. While most of them were secrets to public, fortunately CIA has disclosed a little bit [4]. For example, in a project called Mars Exploration, a 1984 CIA remote viewing experiment is performed, where a per-son with supernatural ability is asked to view “Face on Mars” region. In his vision, he saw “tall, thin people” and pyramids from a million years ago.

However, main stream media and even some AIs are trained to avoid discussing these sensitive issues, and still propaganda the previous idea, which still describes Mars as a “dead” planet. Is it true? Definitely wrong. Otherwise, the smartest investors in the worlds would not pay huge billions of dollars to send human to Mars. SpaceX aims for crewed missions in the late 2020s or early 2030s, while NASA’s Artemis program and international collaborations target the 2030s. They are not wasting money, but preserve human species – any way, they know more secrets than general public and they have clearly realized how dangerous it is if you put all your eggs in one basket.

As a matter of fact, many puzzles can be solved if you consider the effects of past civilization on Mars. This article will discuss the possibility of how n disasters in past civilization (s) could change a joyful human habitats to today’s harsh condition in Mars. With the advance of technologies, it is just a matter of time for humans to re-establish colonies again in Mars. We will also discuss the worries of future human civilization in Mars, to prevent same tragedy from happening again.

Harsh Conditions

The majority of views thought that Mars have no liquid water, no plants, no magnetic fields, and in rich of CO2. This is partially true for today’s Mars, but not necessary true for past Mars.

• Water

First of all, there is water in Mars, but it’s limited and not widespread. NASA’s Mars Recon-naissance Orbiter and other missions have detected signs of briny, salty water in the form of seasonal flows on steep slopes, likely caused by melting subsurface ice. In 2018, the Europe-an Space Agency’s Mars Express identified a potential subsurface lake of liquid water be-neath the South Pole, about 20 km wide. However, liquid water is rare and transient in to-day’s Mars.

Mars once had vast oceans with beaches and shorelines similar to Earth, but they disappeared. The ocean, known as Deuteronilus, may have covered nearly half of Mars at its peak [5]. However, as Mars lost its atmosphere, the water either froze, evaporated, or seeped underground.

• Temperature and Atmosphere

In summer, Mars can reach temperatures of 70°F (21°C) during the day. However, at night, temperatures can drop to -100°F (-73°C) due to the absence of an Earth-like atmosphere. If Mars had an Earth-like atmosphere to create a greenhouse effect, it could be significantly warmer. Using a greenhouse near the Arctic Circle on Earth as a simulation, 30–40°C would be a theoretically achievable temperature, sufficient for human survival.

A planet’s temperature is heavily influenced by its atmosphere. For nearby planets, the atmosphere’s impact is more significant than their distance from the Sun. For example, Venus is hotter than Mercury, despite Mercury being closer to the Sun. Venus has an average sur-face temperature of 464°C, while Mercury’s average is only 167°C. The greenhouse effect traps heat, making Venus nearly three times hotter than Mercury.

A similar principle applies when comparing Mars and Earth. If Mars’ atmosphere were thicker than Earth’s, the two planets could have very similar temperatures, creating ideal conditions for human habitats.

Moreover, if Earth and Mars had similar atmospheric compositions in the past, Mars’ atmosphere would need to be approximately twice as thick as Earth’s to achieve comparable temperatures. Considering that Mars is about four times smaller than Earth in volume, it is easier to heat due to its higher surface area-to-volume ratio. If Mars’ past atmosphere had a higher CO2 concentration and other greenhouse gases (e.g., water vapor), Earth and Mars could have had similar temperatures, atmospheric thickness, and even air pressure.

Mars has the realistic potential to reach higher temperature as our earth. If the Branburg’s theory is correct, massive N events could have altered Mars’ gravity, magnetic field, and volcanic activity, leading to significant atmospheric loss. This loss caused lower temperatures, which, in turn, caused gases to condense or freeze, further reducing atmospheric density. This cycle of atmospheric loss repeated numerous times, resulting in Mars’ current atmosphere, which is over 100 times thinner than Earth’s.

• Magnetic Field and Geological Inactivity

It is noteworthy that Mars still has a weak magnetic field in some regions, detected by spacecraft like MAVEN. Remnants of an ancient dynamo, preserved in magnetized rocks in the crust, indicate that Mars once had a global magnetic field similar to Earth’s.

Earth’s magnetic field is generated by a dynamo effect, where the movement of molten iron in its liquid outer core creates electric currents that produce a magnetic field. Mars likely had a similar dynamo in its early history, but it shut down. The leading theory is that Mars’ smaller size caused its core to cool and solidify faster, halting the dynamo. Without a liquid core, there is no mechanism to sustain a strong magnetic field. The previous magnetic field was sufficient to support a past civilization. If Branburg’s theory is correct, massive explosions (referred to as “N blasters”) could have torn through the planet’s surface, reaching the liquid outer core. This would have caused the molten iron to cool and spill out onto the sur-face, consistent with the large amounts of iron found on Mars today, as indicated by its red-brown color due to oxidized iron. Consequently, the movement of molten iron, the dynamo, and the global magnetic field could have been accidentally disrupted by a past civilization during war(s).

Without a magnetic field comparable to Earth’s, solar wind would strip away the atmosphere over time. Mars lost much of its atmosphere this way, leaving it too thin to support liquid water or life. Without a global magnetic field, solar storms could severely disrupt the planet, as discussed in most scientific literature. These “N events” also disrupted the climate and water cycle. A thinner atmosphere leads to extreme temperature swings and an inability to retain liquid water. On Mars, water exists mostly as ice or vapor.

Furthermore, the spilling or leaking of massive liquid outer core components onto the sur-face, followed by cooling, also caused reduced volcanic activity (geological inactivity) com-pared to other planets. It is noteworthy that these “N explosions” provide the best explanation for the pattern of spills: these are localized spills, not a completely broken core. The civilization likely targeted enemy habitats (both on the surface and underground) with these explosions, not the entire planet’s core. As a result, some regions still retain a weak magnetic field and minimal geological activity.

• Gravity

Mars has lower gravity than Earth because it is smaller and less massive. Gravity is directly related to a planet’s mass—the greater the mass, the stronger the gravitational pull. Since Mars is only about 38% the size of Earth, its gravity is weaker. Lower gravity can cause hu-mans to grow taller. From a scientific perspective, the spine can stretch in microgravity, making astronauts slightly taller during their time in space. Long-term effects could result in people born on Mars growing significantly taller than their Earth counterparts. This aligns with a CIA experiment [4], which reportedly described a man who, using supernatural abilities, claimed to have seen tall, thin people in a vision of prehistoric Mars (approximately one million years ago).

• Plant

Plant can grow using Mars’ soil with a simulated experimental condition similar to Mars [6-7]. It is a promising indication that a past civilization could be exist, able to do agriculture when the Mars had better conditions before severe disaster event(s).

• Dusty Surface

The dusty surface of Mars is due to ancient volcanic activity. The largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, is found on Mars. As mentioned above, Earth is much larger than Mars. Thus, the amount of lava on Mars should be far less than on Earth. How could Mars’ volcanoes be stronger than Earth’s? A man-made explanation seems the most reasonable. A massive n explosion caused by a past civilization may have triggered an extreme lava eruption in ancient Mars, creating the largest volcano in the solar system.

This speculation is supported by the fact that Martian dust is electrically charged, making it stick to surfaces—including spacecraft and rovers. A past n explosion could be responsible for this electrostatic clinging phenomenon and may have rendered the dust on Mars electrically charged. N explosions can generate electrically charged dust through several mechanisms, including intense heat and ionization, Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP), shockwaves and friction, and radiation effects.

It is speculated that past n explosions—powerful enough to eliminate an ancient civilization—may have created the impossibly gigantic volcano, Olympus Mons, and caused the dusty surface of present-day Mars.

Red Color of Mars and Oxygen Changes in Atmosphere

When looking Mars from earth, you see Mars as a red-orange dot when you uses a telescope because its surface contains iron oxide. The rich iron oxide in surface has been explained in above text, which could due to the melt iron flowing out of the Mars’ core in massive pre-historical gigantic N events and then oxidized by the oxygen in past Mars’ atmosphere, which contains far more oxygen than today’s.

Currently, Mars has 95% CO2 level in its atmosphere, but has only 0.174% oxygen. In fact, Mars had more oxygen in the past than it does today. Manganese oxide minerals is discovered in Martian rocks, which suggested that Mars once had a more oxygen-rich atmosphere. During the aforementioned atmosphere lost, oxygen is easier to lose than CO2, because CO2 is a heavier molecule than individual oxygen atoms or diatomic oxygen (O₂) and is retained more effectively against thermal escape and some solar wind stripping processes.

Thus, in ancient time, Mars’ air contains more oxygen, enough to oxidize the massive irons which leaked out from the outer core during the N disaster.

All in all, Mars was a beautiful human habitat. Something happened to past civilizations, and disasters change its environment to current hard conditions.

Discussion

Religious and Cultural Views

Why is Mars named “Mars,” the Roman god of war? Across many cultures, the planet is consistently associated with war and destruction. In Babylonian astronomy, it is called “Ner-gal,” after their deity of war and destruction. In Greek mythology, it is named Ares, the god of war. To date, no documentation explains why ancient peoples related Mars to war, though it is generally believed to be due to its red-orange color. However, when observing the sky without a telescope, can you identify Mars by its red-orange hue? It’s nearly impossible. Can you distinguish it from other stars? Highly unlikely. Does a red color inherently evoke thoughts of war? Rarely. Thus, the name of Mars may have other origins.

Some scholars of Sumerian civilization claim that our ancient ancestors had connections with extraterrestrial civilizations. These beings could have shared knowledge about Mars, leading to its association with war and destruction.

As mentioned, the oceans on Mars have long dried up. How would a person feel standing in the middle of a dried Martian ocean? Though beyond the scope of typical human experience, religious texts offer insights. In Buddhist sutras, such a landscape evokes feelings of vast emptiness and wildness—sensations strikingly similar to those conveyed by images from Mars rovers (Figure 2). In previous research [8], various methods for exploring the ancient history are discussed, with Supernatural Exploration being one of them. As a counterpart to the CIA’s alleged Mars exploration through supernatural means, ancient sages may have al-ready conducted similar experiments. These sages could have observed the landscapes and the past wars/destruction on Mars and named the “star” accordingly.

In some cultures, Mars is described as a shining and enigmatic star. In ancient China, Mars was named the “Fire Star”; in earlier times, it was also called “Ying Huo” (fiery/shining and confusing) and was thought to be associated with wars, as mentioned in the Shiji (known as Records of the Grand Historian [9]). In Hellenistic Greek, it was called “Pyroeis,” meaning “fiery.” In Hebrew, it is known as Ma’adim, meaning “the one who blushes.” Thus, ancient peoples observed Mars as a fiery, blushing, shining, or confusing star. Notably, today’s Mars appears as a red-orange dot, neither shining nor fiery, when observed through a telescope from Earth. Mars doesn’t shine like a star because it is a planet. Thus, it is speculated that during past war periods, Mars appeared shining, fiery, and blushing to ancient observers, leading to its unique names reflecting these characteristics.

The name “Ying Huo” (fiery/shining and confusing) was recorded by Sima Qian, whose family lineage was responsible for studying the stars in skies for generations [9]. This name was passed down from ancient generations. According to the Sun Theory of Evolution and Sun Model [10], human civilization history spans far more than thousands of years. Furthermore, according to Buddhist scriptures, as discussed in previous research, humanity has a civilization history exceeding millions of years. Even millions of years ago, there was already a branch of science known as astrology. “Ying Huo” could refer to events that ancient astrologers observed: Mars appearing fiery/shining, then changing color from a typical star to a red-orange hue. This confused astrologers, who wondered if it was still the same star after changing color. Consequently, they named Mars “Ying Huo” (fiery/shining and confusing) and believed it was related to wars, as mentioned in the Shiji.

Similar to today’s psychological phenomenon of feeling distant emotions, humans on Earth could have felt deeply scared, mirroring the fear experienced by those on Mars during ancient wars. They felt a terrifying emotion related to war, which was recorded in astrology texts, passed down through generations, and later documented in historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), which specially regarded Mars as a sign for wars and conflictions. Thus, the names of Mars may have originated from ancient observations of war events and the planet’s color change. The reason for Mars’ red color could be due to the disaster events mentioned above.

The Real Colors of Mars

It is noteworthy that Mars appears in different colors depending on whether it is observed from a distance, such as from Earth, or from its own surface. From Earth, it looks like a red-orange dot through a telescope. However, once a rover reaches Mars’ surface, the planet does not appear as red; when standing on Mars, some regions are yellow-red, resembling the Tablelands in Newfoundland (Figure 3), which have been used for Mars exploration tests, while other regions look similar to some rural areas on Earth (Figure 1 and Figure 4). Mars’ surface contains more than just iron oxide. Interestingly, early images released by authorities often had a reddish theme, quite different from recent rover images, fueling conspiracy theories about NASA hiding secrets.

Dark Forest Theory

In recent years, an increasing number of artifacts (e.g. Figure 5) have been identified in im-ages from Mars. Brandenburg’s theory, known as the Cydonian Hypothesis, is gaining more popularity than ever. In his book The Death of Mars [3], John E. Brandenburg claims that a massive thermonuclear explosion destroyed a previous Martian civilization. This catastrophe, caused by an external hostile force and left detectable isotopic traces. The event is proposed as a potential explanation for the Fermi Paradox, which addresses the cosmic silence despite the potential for life.

This idea aligns with the Dark Forest Hypothesis, which suggests that one civilization (A) could be destroyed by a hostile civilization (B) engaged in preemptive aggression. Civilization B’s actions are driven by survival instincts, motivated by fear of potential threats—a scenario comparable to the 90% decline in Indigenous populations in the Americas following Europe-an colonization. Beginning with Columbus in 1492, European colonization led to a cata-strophic decline in Indigenous populations due to disease, violence, displacement, and societal disruption. Thus, the cosmos is likened to a “dark forest,” where silence is the safest strategy. To preserve itself, a civilization must act like Civilization B in the Dark Forest Hypothesis, adopting a cautious and preemptive stance.

Taken together, the harsh conditions in Mars are made by disasters. Brandenburg thought the N events removed the biosphere; actually it could be more intense than just removing biosphere – it needs all the way down to break into the outer core of a planet in order to remove magnetic field globally, pump out of massive melt iron, dump most of lava, red stain the surface and shut down an entire liveable planet. If the Dark Forest Hypothesis is true, the weapon of the hunting civilization is unbelievably powerful – not only destroying civilizations, but demolishing a planet. Therefore, scientific workers should seriously consider the Stephen Hawking’s warning – not signaling our presence to extraterrestrial civilizations.

Alternative Explanations

From humanity’s perspective, we are reluctant to accept the Dark Forest Theory mentioned above because it is too brutal, even though it may be true. Other possibilities also exist. For instance, conflicts within past Martian civilization(s), rather than external forces, could have caused their downfall. It is plausible that internal conflicts within human societies in these ancient civilizations led to wars, transforming Mars—a once-joyful human habitat—into the harsh planet we see today. This explanation aligns with the concept of the Great Filter, which suggests that civilizations may self-destruct before achieving interstellar capabilities. If this is the case, love and ethics become essential for overcoming the Great Filter effect and ensuring the survival of the human species.

With advancing technology, humanity will reclaim Mars; this goal is achievable with worries. To prevent the same tragedy from befalling future human civilizations, love and ethics are not merely moral imperatives but necessities for the survival of our species. Last but not least, we must heed Stephen Hawking’s advice to remain silent, as he warned against signaling our presence to extraterrestrial civilizations. Just as revealing your location to hostile websites can be risky, disclosing our planet’s location could be dangerous.

References

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2. Brandenburg J E (2016) Evidence for Past, Massive, Nuclear Explosions on Mars, and its Relationship to Fermi’s Paradox and The Cydonian Hypothesis. AIAA SPACE Forum (pp. 10.2514/6.2016-5529). Long Beach, California: AIAA SPACE 2016.
3. Brandenburg John E (2015) Death on Mars: The Discovery of a Planetary Nuclear Massacre. Adventures Unlimited Press.
4. CIA (1984) Mars Exploration. Retrieved from MARS EXPLORATION, MAY 22, 1984 - The World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov › readingroom › docs › CIA-RDP96-00788R001900760001-9.pdf
5. University of California – Berkeley (2025) An ancient ocean on Mars. The American Association for the Advancement of Science EurekAlert. Retrieved from.
6. Wamelink G W W, Frissel J Y, Krijnen W H J, Verwoert M R, Goedhart P W (2014) Can plants grow on Mars and the moon: A growth experiment on Mars and moon soil simu-lants. PLoS ONE 9(8): 103138-
7. Youth Science Canada. (n.d.). The first step to growing plants on Mars. ProjectBoard. Retrieved May 13, 2025, from https://partner.projectboard.world/ysc/project/the-first-step-to-growing-plants-on-mars
8. Youth Science Canada. (n.d.). The first step to growing plants on Mars. ProjectBoard. Retrieved May 13, 2025, from https://partner.projectboard.world/ysc/project/the-first-step-to-growing-plants-on-mars
9. Sun W, Sun J (2024) The History of Human Civilization from the Religious Views. J Anthro & Archeo Sci, 9(5): 1279-1293.
10. Sima Qian (145 BCE to 86 BCE), Records of the Grand Historian (of China). Also named as “Shi Ji”.
11. Sun W (2024) Solving the Darwinian Paradoxes by “Sun Model of Civilization”, Re-Examine the Origin of Human. J Anthro & Archeo Sci 9(2): 1200-1211.