# Investigation: Barsoom as Pre-MFEE Mars — Mythic Memory Release

> **TL;DR:** **Author thesis:** Edgar Rice Burroughs's **Barsoom** series (1912–1943) encodes a **pre–MudFlood Energetic Event (MFEE)** snapshot of Mars — **surface cities**, **canals**, **multi-species** civilizations, **polar forbidden zones**. We do **not** see that Mars today because the **energetic event destroyed** most of what Barsoom describes; what survived was **lightning-scarred**, not erased — **Mars CERN** was built **underneath** the wreckage, and **Mariner** (1962) sealed the **Dead Planet** public read. Releasing Barsoom as **pulp fantasy** was **safe**: it would become **mythic memory** on Earth — like the **Russian Empire** became a **rejected mythical memory** in standard modern history. **Open:** how Martians teach their own children the event — **recent**, **a million years ago**, or **not at all**.

**Status:** Open — author synthesis; Burroughs source tier **literary / disclosure-gradient** ([mars-fiction-survey §V](/cosmos/mars/investigations/mars-fiction-survey.md)).

**Guide**

1. **Author thesis — three-layer Mars surface story** → §1  
2. **What Barsoom preserves (cities, species, canals)** → §2  
3. **Why publication was institutionally safe** → §3  
4. **Martian pedagogy — chronology taught to children** → §4  
5. **Claims registry** → §5  
6. **Open questions** → §6  

---

## 1. Author thesis — three-layer Mars surface story

**Layer A — Pre-MFEE (Barsoom snapshot):** Mars with **open surface civilization** — empires, **canals**, **atmosphere factories**, **multiple humanoid races** (red, green, white, black, yellow Martians), **synthetic beings**, **airships**, **polar conspiracies**. This is the world **Burroughs** maps in greatest detail ([Barsoom README](/cosmos/mars/burroughs_barsoom/README.md)).

**Layer B — MFEE destruction ([1774 Mars catastrophe](/timeline/evt-1774-ce-the-mars-catastrophe)):** The **MudFlood Energetic Event** devastates Mars — **cities** and **ecologies** that Barsoom describes are **mostly** among what was **destroyed**. Today's Mars reads as **scarred**, **species-reduced**, **canal-broken** — not because Barsoom was **pure invention**, but because the **event** removed the **variety** and **urban fabric** the novels preserve. Aligns with [Mars hub — MFEE / telepathic factions](/cosmos/mars/page.md) and [spore / ecological disaster investigation](/history/mudflood/investigations/spore-ecological-disaster-martian-cylinders-investigation.md).

**Layer C — Dead Planet Protocol (~1890s–1962):** What **remained observable** from Earth (Lowell **canals**, opposition **lights**, melted-city **photography**) was **dismantled** before **Mariner** sealed **lifeless Mars** — [CERN dossier §3.5](/science/cern_portal/investigations/cern-mars-quantum-gateway-investigation.md), [Dead Planet timeline](/timeline/evt-mars-surface-dismantling-dead-planet-protocol). **Not** the same as Layer B — **institutional concealment** after **catastrophe**, not the catastrophe itself. The **scarred regolith** was **left in place** as **decoy geology**; the gate went **underground**.

**One line:** **Barsoom = memory of Mars before the scar; Mariner = memory hole after Dead Planet seal.**

---

## 2. What Barsoom preserves

| Barsoom element | Investigative read | Post-event status (author) |
|-----------------|-------------------|----------------------------|
| **Surface cities & empires** | Pre-MFEE urban Mars | **Mostly destroyed** in MFEE; remainder **dismantled** pre-Mariner |
| **Canals & atmosphere plants** | Hydraulic / life-support infrastructure | **Broken** by event; **filled in** in Dead Planet window |
| **Species variety** (Tharks, Therns, First Born, Kaldanes, Hormads…) | Multi-lineage surface population | **Reduced** — we see a **destroyed, scarred** planet, **not** the full zoo |
| **Polar forbidden zones** (Valley Dor, Okar) | Hidden power / gate grammar | May **persist underground** — fiction may encode **interior** survival ([mars-fiction-survey §III](/cosmos/mars/investigations/mars-fiction-survey.md)) |
| **John Carter** Earth–Mars transit | Opposition / portal rhyme | Rhymes **CERN-class** traffic thesis — **not** proof |

**Tier:** **Author thesis** — clue indexes treat text as **possible redacted fact** ([princess-of-mars-index](/cosmos/mars/burroughs_barsoom/princess-of-mars-index.md), etc.).

---

## 3. Why releasing Barsoom was safe — mythic memory on Earth

**Author read (2026-07-04):** By **1912–1943**, the **Barsoom-described** surface was **already gone** or **going** — destroyed in the **MFEE**, further **hidden** by **Dead Planet** mechanics. Publishing **cities**, **canals**, and **civilizations** on Mars carried **low institutional risk** because:

1. **Telescopes** would soon **stop confirming** Lowell-era reads (Mariner path).  
2. **Fiction shelf** = **no authority** — same **disclosure gradient** as Phase 3 pulp ([mars-fiction-survey §VIII](/cosmos/mars/investigations/mars-fiction-survey.md)).  
3. **Memory would mythify** — readers would treat Barsoom like **any adventure romance**, exactly as standard history treats the **Russian Empire** as **mythical or illegitimate memory** **rejected** in **modern** curricula (Horde / chronology lane — [deep-state terminology](/history/chronology/deep-state-terminology.md), [British Civil War sequence](/governance/war/investigations/british-civil-war-investigation.md)).

**Parallel (author):**

| Earth memory object | Official modern status | Barsoom analogue |
|---------------------|------------------------|------------------|
| **Russian Empire / Rus-Horde** depth | **Flattened**, **demonized**, or **fictionalized** in standard textbooks | **Real past** treated as **never-real** |
| **Barsoom Mars** | **Shelved as fantasy** | **Pre-MFEE Mars** treated as **never-real** |

**Not claimed:** Burroughs was a **conscious** Deep State asset — only that **release timing** was **compatible** with **mythic erasure**.

---

## 4. Martian pedagogy — what do they teach their children?

**Open question (author, 2026-07-04):** Interior or surviving Martian populations may run **their own** chronology curriculum. Three brackets:

| Teaching | Effect |
|----------|--------|
| **Event was recent** (generations, not eons) | Preserves **continuity** with Barsoom-era **kin**; **Earth** **fiction** = **garbled** **cousin** memory |
| **Event was a million years ago** | **Deep time** **inoculation** — same **trick** as Earth **geology** **flattening** **Young Mars** |
| **Event not taught** (denied or sacred silence) | **Dead Planet** **internalized** — **surface** **never** **was** |

**Research gap:** No located **breakaway**, **RV**, or **Barsoom** **text** **settles** which bracket dominates **Martian** **schooling**. [CIA 1984 Mars RV](/influence/controlled_opposition/investigations/cia-reading-room-mars-exploration-1984-rv-investigation.md) hints **interior** **refugees**, not **pedagogy**.

**Cross-ref:** [Mars–Earth reincarnation investigation](/cosmos/mars/investigations/mars-earth-reincarnation-investigation.md) — mass death → souls on Earth may **carry** **fragmentary** **Barsoom** **memory** as **"déjà vu"** **fiction** affinity.

---

## 5. Claims registry

| ID | Claim | Tier |
|----|-------|------|
| B1 | Barsoom encodes **pre-MFEE** Mars surface civilization | **Author thesis** |
| B2 | **Cities & species variety** absent today chiefly because **MFEE destroyed** them | **Author thesis** |
| B3 | Barsoom **safe to publish** because truth would become **mythic memory** on Earth | **Author interpretive** |
| B4 | Parallel to **Russian Empire** → **rejected mythical memory** in modern history | **Author analogy** |
| B5 | Martian children taught **recent** vs **deep-time** vs **denied** event — **unknown** | **Open question** |

---

## 6. Open questions

1. **Burroughs source:** Theosophy, Lowell, oral **Mars** **traffic**, or **managed** **packet**? ([mars-fiction-survey §X.1](/cosmos/mars/investigations/mars-fiction-survey.md))  
2. **Dating inside Barsoom:** Do **internal** **histories** (drying seas, Orovars) **encode** **MFEE** **sequence** or **compressed** **deep-time**?  
3. **Species still below:** Which Barsoom **races** map to **interior** **survivors** vs **extinct** **surface** lines?  
4. **Soviet Mars fiction** (*Aelita*, *Red Star*) — same **mythic-memory** **release** **lane**?  
5. **Pedagogy leak:** Any **interior** **testimony** on **Martian** **history** **curriculum**?

---

## Related

| File | Role |
|------|------|
| [Mars fiction survey](/cosmos/mars/investigations/mars-fiction-survey.md) | Barsoom in pulp / Wells inversion context |
| [Barsoom clue indexes](/cosmos/mars/burroughs_barsoom/README.md) | Full-text passage registers |
| [CERN dossier §3.5](/science/cern_portal/investigations/cern-mars-quantum-gateway-investigation.md) | Dead Planet + Barsoom row |
| [Part A — Out of This Door](/science/cern_portal/out-of-this-door-might-come-something.md) | Reader essay — Dead Planet |
| [Mars hub](/cosmos/mars/page.md) | MFEE, canals, CERN travel |
| [1774 Mars catastrophe](/timeline/evt-1774-ce-the-mars-catastrophe) | MFEE chronology spine |
| [Dead Planet Protocol](/timeline/evt-mars-surface-dismantling-dead-planet-protocol) | 1890s–1962 concealment |

Keywords: #Barsoom #Burroughs #Mars #MFEE #DeadPlanetProtocol #MythicMemory #RussianEmpire #ParadigmThreatFiles

*Last updated: 2026-07-04*