Although it is true that the planet Mars passed extraordinarily close to Earth in August 2003 (the closest the planets had been to each other for some 60,000 years), the e-mail chain letter spreads across the internet every August. It is advised that users should simply delete the e-mail, and not forward it onto their friends and colleagues.
"Chain letters like this are too easily forwarded to friends, family and colleagues without people using their common sense. Stories like this become treated as fact, simple because they are repeated so often," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Hoaxes and chain letters like Giant Mars are not harmless -- they waste time and bandwidth, and can make support departments see red. Users need to be more skeptical, and ask themselves whether everything they are told by e-mail can be believed."
Part of the chain letter reads as follows:
The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.
"Up until 27 August it's likely that we will see more and more copies of this chain letter spreading across the net," explained Cluley. "Then things will die down -- until next year at least."
