Exposing the "Face" ...

... for the mountain that it is.

BERLIN - For decades, photos of what appeared to be a huge, face-shaped rock formation on Mars — or even a statue of Elvis — fueled theories of intelligent life on the Red Planet.

But high-resolution stereo cameras from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter have debunked that myth with the clearest pictures yet of the region where the so-called face was found, ESA has said.

"The face remains a figment of human imagination in a heavily eroded surface," the agency said in a statement.

Why do I have a nagging feeling that this news will in no way at all deter those who think this is a sign of extraterrestrial intelligence? Oh, yeah, I forgot; there's a conspiracy to cover up the "truth" about the "face".