by
Meirion Hughes
With the advent of the Hubble Space Telescope, Massive Radio Telescopes, the theoretical discovery of "dark matter", and with quantum leaps in our understanding of particle physics, our scientists and astronomers are looking further out and deeper into the past of our Universe than ever before. Yet our close neighbour, the Planet Venus, remains shrouded by mystery, with some of its attributes still defying explanation.
In recent years this mystical planet has become the focus for accusations of conspiracy and cover-up, and allegations of falsified data by establishment astronomers.
There are a number of pieces of evidence which make Venus a prime target for such debate. First there is the astronomical data recorded in ancient times which places Venus in an orbit substantially different to that observed now. Second, that the observations, from geographically isolated peoples around the world in ancient times, place the planet in the same "wrong orbit", a fact made remarkable by our knowledge that these old civilisations could not have had contact with each other.
And thirdly, observations of the behaviour of the planet currently and the conditions prevalent upon its surface.
Those at loggerheads with the establishment today also point to what they say is overwhelming evidence of a global cataclysm which decimated life on Earth sometime between 15,000 and 4,000 BC with the favoured millennium being 12,000 BC. Such a cataclysm on Earth could have been caused by the gravitational effects of either an event which shifted the orbit of Venus; or more dramatically the arrival of the planet as a body from outside our solar system.
But what of the ancient evidence? And why is it not common knowledge in our society today?
Those same geographically isolated ancient peoples who plotted the orbit of Venus, also almost unanimously referred to a "great flood". The most famous of these references for Western Societies of today is the account of Noah and his Arc. However, the Old Testament does not possess a monopoly over this so called "Myth". There are over 72,000 references to such a flood from ancient writings from all over the world. Remarkably, conventional historians have consistently failed to link these accounts as being of any value as evidence to corroborate catastrophic geophysical upheavals on Earth during the period commonly referred to as "pre history".
Amongst the "wilder" claims of "alternative historians" is that this catastrophe wiped out civilisations which possessed highly developed technologies including nuclear weapons, aircraft and space-travel. The cataclysm, it is said, doomed its survivors to live in a virtual iron-age (or worse), their complex systems of technology, manufacture and science and the socio-economic dependence on such specialisms, lost to them.
If this sounds far-fetched, it should be remembered that analysts predict much the same fate for our own technological civilisation in the event of Global Thermonuclear War, with its few survivors having to start civilisation all over again.
Few pieces of evidence would survive the 12,000 years or so it would take for humanity to recover its population levels and re-invent science and industrial capability. Again this sounds implausible. However, for all our self-criticism, we ourselves are a very "Green" civilisation in the long-term should we ever be decimated and returned to a primitive, survivor existence as a race.
Our building materials, bricks, mortar, steel are all easily biodegradable over periods of only hundreds of years. The same can be said of plastics, electrical circuits etc. Glass can readily be returned to powder by erosion. Even nuclear power stations would bio-degrade, with their radioactive stores oxidising and being leached into surrounding strata.
The most enduring artefacts would be those carved or constructed in stone with their symbols and language incomplete and open to the sceptical interpretations of mythology and superstitious religion of some future civilisation. Yet some rare evidence might survive, like an often-copied map, or the odd "Duracell" battery or two, some mummified papers describing aircraft, weapons of mass destruction etc. or the stone foundations of some older observatories. Whether or not any credence was paid to such evidence would depend on the capacity for open-mindedness of any future civilisation and the complexity and secrecy of their organisational institutions. The fact that such evidence and more is available to OUR civilisation does not auger well for any recognition of our own technological existence, if WE fail to survive.
Lastly we should look at Venus herself and listen very carefully to those who make their accusations today: A synopsis of those accusations appears here and requires no additional comment:
"A surface temperature of 900 - 1000 degrees F. and the pitiful spectacle of scientists trying to explain that by a greenhouse theory. • A planetary surface so new as to require scientists to devise a "global resurfacing event" to explain it." • The planet out of thermal balance according to all direct observations. • The reverse spin of Venus which cannot be primordial, and must have been caused by interaction with another planet. • The phase lock with Earth, indicating which planet that was. • Entirely similar myths and legends around the world describing a world-destroying catastrophe with Venus as causal agent. • Accurate records on different continents showing not only cycle times for Venus which are different from those of the present, but the SAME different times, from a date at which no known contact between the peoples involved existed."

Venus. The Blue Planet?
The Colour effect here is actually the result of computer augmentation.
Pictures Courtesy of NASA (who do not endorse the contents of this website).
These domes are on the eastern edge of Alpha Regio on Venus. They average 25 km (15 mi) in diameter with maximum heights of 750 m (2475 ft). Some scientists believe they are the result of eruptions of thick lava that flowed from a vent on level ground, resulting in an even lateral pattern of lava. The concentric and radial fracture pattern on the surface of the domes suggests that lava welled up inside the domes, causing the surface to stretch.
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