AMA: Ask Martians Anything … Dr Phil Davies is Founder of The Martians and Director of Mars Register Ltd. He’s also a practicing medical doctor. He hosted a REDDIT AMA session (r/IAmA) on 9th December 2021 at 12 noon ET (5pm UTC)…a ‘tricky’ experience:  CLICK HERE
PROOF OF IDENTITY

  • Twitter: @JoinTheMartians

    Twitter post announcing Phil’s AMA session on Reddit: CLICK HERE

  • Facebook: @JoinTheMartians

    Facebook post announcing Phil’s AMA session on Reddit: CLICK HERE

  • BBC: Documentary (2020)

    Short documentary on Dr Davies and “The Martians” … CLICK HERE

  • ITV Good Morning: Interview (2020)

    Dr Davies is interviewed on ITV’s GM show – with > 2 million viewers: CLICK HERE

  • New Yorker: Documentary (2017)

    Radio documentary on Dr Davies and “The Martians” … CLICK HERE

  • The Times: two articles (2016 and 2020)

    Tom Whipple has done two major pieces in the printed newspaper (also online): CLICK HERE

YES, it is… we think (and some of the worlds top legal scholars have stated this in writing).

At first sight, a claim such as ours may resemble all the other greedy misleading claims to celestial land (moon and planets), whereby agencies are selling ‘fake-as-real’ deeds to the unsuspecting public.

But…

  1. Our claim is one of possession (not yet ownership) and has been independently validated by the established legal experts. It is ultimately based on the persistent application of powerful lasers upon the geo-atmosphere of  Mars (plus an associated, well developed, business strategy and governance plan). See HERE
  2. We issue (for free or a small fee) real claim certificates (not deeds… which are illegal) which certify possession and our intent to pursue legal rights of ownership.
  3. We started all this in 2010 to show the potential weakness of space law to the UN (UN-COPUOS) and hopefully jolt them into updating space law – not purely to accommodate our claim, but more importantly to strengthen the law against aggressive weaponization of space (especially the orbital space just above us). This uniquely constructed claim to possession of Martian land has afforded us with many media encounters (UK, EU, Australia and some US)… we have used each opportunity to highlight the weakening plight of the Outer Space Treaty (OST) and the growing risk of aggressive weaponization.
  4. We have been a thorn in the side of the UK Government (Foreign and Commonwealth Office, FCO) for nearly twelve years. We have pestered them every month with our two related concerns: the Mars Claim and the ‘Space Treaty Update’  Campaign. In order to raise further awareness of our relentless intent, we have tried to compel the UK Government to present our claim/campaign to the UN (UN-COPUOS). In doing this we have dragged them to the High Court, the Court of Appeal and then the European Court of Human Rights. Of course, we have not been able to compel them into action, but the process has enhanced our transparent credibility (especially in UK media). I should state that we fully covered the UK Government’s costs (we payed for it) – so as not to cost the UK taxpayer.
  5. Now, we can’t claim any influence on this, but… the UK Gov has finally done what we have been asking for … the UK delegation at the UN First Committee has (last month) had a resolution passed (with US and EU support) that will see a UN working group created to specifically look at arms control in space, maybe even that treaty we have been asking for.
  6. So, back to the claim itself. We understand that there are billions of dollars funding the best scientists, engineers and astronauts in an effort to develop our presence in space, hopefully with benefits coming back to Earth. It probably appears pathetic that we, using only Earth based lasers, think we can bypass all that brilliance and greedily grab some land on Mars with our grubby hands. The truth is we applaud and revere those amazing efforts, much of them coming from USA.  If you look at our published business strategy, declaration of intent or the applications for land registration (sent to the UN), you will see that we propose an ethical, equitable yet pro-business solution to many of our current/future in-space challenges. I accept that might sound grandiose.
  7. Our strategy, if fully realized, is to strengthen our claim with a massive membership (>5 million), space-based lasers, and annual funding for STEM/Space-Studies scholarships (thus creating some of the future astronauts and ‘space settlers’). By the time that space law evolves to tolerate some celestial land/property rights we will have a much stronger claim of possession than the existing one. Expert lawyers have already stated in published docs that our claim should then be first in line for ownership… our members’ family descendants would then stand a good chance of gaining rights to vast areas of land on Mars (9-35SqKm each!). As part of our strategy, those rights will be to beneficial title… the legal title will go to the UN. See our published STRATEGY to discover how we have crafted an international, equitable yet pro-business distribution of these Mars land claims.
  8. We’ve invited independent expert legal scrutiny of our business practice and legal strategy. The published documents confirm the validity of our claim of possession and also the legality of our business activity. See HERE for the collection of these documents. The expert opinion does confirm that our factual possession of Mars cannot yet be converted to ownership (space law does not allow)… but if, as we all expect, the law moves in future towards tolerance of property rights, then we (more likely our family descendants in 50-100 years) should be ‘FIRST IN LINE’ for Martian land ownership.
NO!… it really is not.

Whilst it can be effectively argued that our self-confidence and aspirations are all a bit too grandiose for non-astronauts, any detailed scrutiny of our project here will see that we are motivated to seek peaceful and responsible space commerce which proves beneficial to Earth and all it’s people.

Most people to date have joined us for free, but we also now have a registered paid-for membership (claim certification) … this facility was used to pay for our repeated legal fees in our dance with the UK Gov through the High Courts. Overall to date, although able to ‘pay-our-way,’ we have not made a business profit … nor was it our intention to do so.

There are now >200,000 Martians.

Suggested topics for discussion on AMA:

FACT 1: whilst it is not legally possible to own celestial land at present (Outer Space Treaty articles II & VI plus Customary International Law), it is feasible to possess (de-facto possession) celestial land. Some of the world’s top international lawyers believe that we (‘The Martians’) have done enough to rightly claim de-facto possession of land on Mars.

Our company, Mars Register Ltd, issues real claim certificates to new members (co-claimants = The Martians) which confirm their joining a communal claim of factual possession of land on Mars and our intent to pursue all legal opportunity to  convert that possession into legal ownership rights. See independent legal documents: CLICK HERE

FACT 2: such de-facto possession of celestial land has no legal weight right now (no rights)… but such factual possession is the accepted step (within international and national law) towards gaining ownership of newly claimed land on Earth. Some top legal experts agree that should space laws evolve towards tolerance of property rights (which most experts think it will, eventually), then our Mars Land Claim should (morally, ethically and probably legally) be ‘First-In-Line’ for ownership consideration. For the expert lawyers documents, CLICK HERE

The most important document listed here (Legal Reality Check Report) was produced for online publication by Professor Frans von der Dunk (probably the most eminent of all elite space law scholars). When he is not lecturing at University of Nebraska or advising ESA/EU/UN/NASA/US Space Command/PCA he is assisting the space-commerce sector via his world renowned consultancy, Black Holes BV. Here is a page from his online resume, listing our Martian Project in 2020: BLACK HOLES

FACT 3: we base our claim to land on Mars on the persistent application of powerful (class IV) laser light to Mars (for 12 years). The controlling influence of such laser light upon the geo-atmosphere of Mars (sporadic C02 release from dry-ice into atmosphere) is extremely small and thus physically trivial. Yet it could be measurable and some expert lawyers agree that such minimal physical control could be (and has been in the past) accepted as evidence of factual possession of barren land (Mars is, without question, rather barren). Our powerful lasers do reach Mars in a directed manner (albeit the diameter of this current beam will always be greater than 10x the size of Mars)… at times (opposition) there are quadrillions of photons impacting Mars every second. These photons have the energy to liberate CO2 into the atmosphere (from dry ice). See our Science Section: CLICK HERE

FACT 4: We are already at > 200,000 international members (co-claimants = ‘The Martians’) and aim to get to one million by end of 2022 (when Mars is next at closest approach). We have membership certificates reserved for nationals of all countries – equitably shared by population size, space-faring impact, human-rights records and state-corruption stats). Whether joining for free (many thousands have) or for a small joining fee, the new member/co-claimant becomes one of “The Martians” – joining our communal claim of factual possession of land on Mars – with a stated intent of legally pursuing ownership of the land claimed. If you do want to join the Martians, CLICK HERE

If you can’t afford the small fee then follow us on Twitbook … our dismal auto-DM service can provide maybe 30% of new followers with a voucher code for a free certificate. We have lost more followers than we have gained … but they’re a British company so we’ve kept them on!

FACT 5: our business activities, through repeated media attention, have raised awareness of the dire state of the Outer Space Treaty (OST). Our strategy is not just to provide our descendents with a real opportunity to own land on Mars, we also strive/campaign for a new ‘Top-Up Treaty’ to re-inforce the weakening OST – mainly to prevent aggressive weaponization of the orbital space above our heads. The full realization of our Mars Land Claim would see not only the equitable distribution of land ownership on Mars… it would also deliver vibrant & responsible space commerce (mining) and a top-up Space Treaty which would keep us all safe from space weapons and debris (if you are interested, check out our revised Business Strategy … we have a strong ethical compass and really do stay faithful to the Outer Space Treaty… something our new members become committed to – via the Declaration of Intent). But we understand that in the short term this realization is unlikely!… so we use all media opportunity to campaign for reinforcement to the existing Outer Space Treaty (54 years old!).

Finally (I doubt we can claim it is our effective influence), the sluggish UN is waking up to the current dangers and starting to act: well done to the British delegation at the UN. Their resolution (for a working group looking at arms control in space… maybe even a new treaty) was passed at the UN’s First Committee last month. See this very recent piece in The Conversation: CLICK HERE

FACT 6: in 2004 and 2009, virtually all of the interested expert international lawyers became so concerned about the reckless actions of online agencies selling deeds (fake-sold-as-real) to the Moon (and planets) that they issued two position papers (issued by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL)), stating the illegality of any claims to ownership of celestial land – and thus also the illegality of any agencies selling deeds to celestial land. See Here

The very same senior Director of the IISL (the expert lawyer who was pivotal to those position papers) has now produced written documents which affirm the legality of our actions and the reasonable nature of our claim of de-facto possession. We do not claim ownership .. we claim possession (a pre-cursor to ownership). As a result he has stated that if the law evolves to tolerate property rights in space, then we (or our descendants, more likely) should be first in line. This publication enhances our business-legal foundations. See these docs: CLICK HERE

Note: we have also taken the UK Government to the High Court, Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights – OK, so we couldn’t force them to do what we demanded… but the process  has served to enhance our transparency and credibility: Court of Appeal: Decision

FACT 7: As Mars Register Ltd (the registered limited company), we are doing two things: giving our members (The Martians) the opportunity to provide their family descendants with actual ownership rights to large areas of land on Mars (9-35 Sq Km each!) and also, via repeated media exposure, agitating the UN committees to agree a top-up Space Treaty to keep us all safe from aggressive weaponization in space, allow for vibrant space commerce, and manage debris (most states actually want this … but need a jolt!).

NOTE: the claim certificates (including a seasonal gift certificate) are 100% real.. and recorded by us for future Mars land ownership registration. Members are advised to carefully look after them for their future families. Remember:  Real Claims, not Fake (illegal) Deeds.

OK, YOU MIGHT WANT TO ASK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE… DR PHIL IS READY TO RESPOND – IF HIS NERVES HOLD UP…AMA!

CLICK THROUGH TO REDDIT IAmA