“NO ONE ALIVE WILL EVER SEE THIS,” screamed the subject line in all capital letters.

Don’t believe the hype. Though this title sounds as if it is forecasting a very exciting occurrence, I can assureyou that it is just hoax-us pokus.

The once-in-a-lifetime event that is being detailed in inboxes all over the world is the reported “closest encounter between Mars and Earth in recorded history.” Rumor has it that on August 27, 2010, Mars will be so close to the earth that it will look as big as the moon so there will appear to be two moons in the sky. According to this account, the convergence of these heavenly bodies will not happen again until the year 2287 — outside of the lifetime of all of us. 

Let me give you, appropriately for this week, fair warning. This phenomenon will not happen. Don’t stay up late, wake the kids, or gather neighbors and friends for a nighttime peek at the multiple moon mystery. 

It just goes to show that you can’t believe everything you read, especially online. (As if you didn’t know that already!) The e-mail that has been spreading began innocently enough in 2003. At that time, the close encounter between Mars and Earth really happened. That year, these celestial bodies came within 35 million miles of each other. However, Mars still did not appear as large as the moon — that is a myth. And back in 2003, the occurrence was actually worth seeing since Mars appeared six times larger and 85 times brighter than usual.    

It must have been such a fabulous sight that we aspire to a repeat performance each year. Unfortunately, there is to be no repeat performance this year. Instead of a replay, we simply find the 2003 e-mail has been recirculated and ended up again in our inbox.

We should be happy, though, that the photo of equal-sized moon and Mars was not real. If the picture that accompanied the e-mail were accurate, we would find ourselves in some serious trouble.  Should Mars ever come close enough to appear that big adjacent to our moon, life on earth would change drastically. The gravitational pull exerted on ourplanet would be altered, and tides would be affected so much as to cause quite an earthly ruckus.

Mars can be seen in this week’s evening sky. Look hard, you may have to squint to notice it, a few degrees above brilliantly bright Venus low in the west at twilight. It is only about 1 per cent as intense as Venus, shining luminous in the late sunset, so you might just miss Mars.

Like Halley’s Comet, this Internet rumor will probably circle around and reappear in a fewyears. If you were taken in by the promise of a moonlight mystery, you are likely not the only one. Consider yourself in the good company of those that seek out and appreciate the splendor and complexities of nature, since as Rachel Carson observed, “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.”

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown.