[ WP ] We finally get men on Mars and they discover an old Soviet flag placed down decades ago . The Soviets won the space race but for whatever horrifying reason did n't say anything .

It did n't take long for the conspiracies to take hold. An old Soviet flag was found on Mars by the astronauts on their first mission there. 
 
 `` The astronauts were paid by Russia to try and make a new claim to fame. It's completely impossible that the USSR was actually on Mars.'' 
 
 `` The Soviets probably discovered Alien life and were brought up to Mars to be experimented on, they must've also put that face on Mars as a message based on the faces of the cosmonauts!'' 
 
 `` It's totally possible, the ancient Jesuits have been known to have incredibly advanced technology! The Soviets must have repurposed it for their own use!'' 
 
 `` The US is just using this to create more conflict between it and Russia, I'm sure soon we'll discover there's oil in Russia and then we'll deliver some hot, sticky, freedom to them.'' 
 
 A lot of people were torn on the issue. There was no reason for the astronauts to lie. Supposedly the astronauts took many images of the dated Soviet flag they found but kept them secret. There were other more mundane pictures of Mars released to the public, but no flag pictures had ever come up. The astronauts claimed they kept the images secret until they landed, then immediately went to the press to share what they found, but by then they claim the government had destroyed all evidence. 
 
 It was quite the story and many did n't believe it. The US government was n't commenting at first, but after the story got enough traction there was a very simple statement made by NASA that it had done no such thing and while the mission to Mars was a success and plenty of valuable research data was received there were no old flags or signs of human life to be found. They stated they were n't sure why their astronauts were telling stories all of a sudden, but the head of the program in a conference made some hints towards the `` eccentricity'' of some of the members and their romanticized notions of the Soviet Republic. 
 
 People did n't know how to make sense of the story, certainly if the government wanted to keep this whole thing under wraps they would have dealt with the astronauts in some way to keep them silent. Why even keep it a secret then? Why let the astronauts talk? 
 
 There were many questions about why let alone *how* the USSR could put anything on Mars let alone evidence of landing on it. The Russian media was loving the sudden rise in attention and Putin made some joking remarks to the kinds of people the US trusts with such important tasks. But with continued trouble in the Middle East, European radicals taking immigration issues into their own hands, and China beginning to put continued pressure on a Japan that was expanding its military every day, this story eventually became no more than a myth propogated by part of the population, oddly becoming quite popular among moon-landing conspirators, and believing the otherwise reliable astronauts would become a bit of a joke. 
 
 `` Seriously? You believe that story?'' Jessica said to her classmate. 
 
 `` Yeah, my Dad was watching documentaries about it. I'm pretty sure it's true, we know the US government destroys evidence after all.'' Retorted Alex, looking somewhat red in the face. 
 
 `` That's stupid and you know it, there's just way too many assumptions you'd have to make when you could just, like, say they lied. Next you're gon na tell me to watch'loose change' and start insisting on a second shooter or something.'' She clearly was n't going to consider the possibility or was particularly interested in it to begin with. And really, not many people were these days, Alex knew he was in a minority there, even the moon landing deniers had larger numbers. 
 
 Alex looked crestfallen, but within a few years he'd graduate high school and then go to college. Everything he learned in that time would make it clear just how impossible the whole situation was and he'd be content with the idea that now he knew better. 
 
 ( I do n't usually write in this sub, or in general, but when I saw that most of the stories were about the experience of the astronaut's view I wanted to write about what it meant for everyone else back home, if it meant anything. I hope I get at least some traction, let me know what you think! )
