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What are those strange white patterns in China's Gobi Desert? For weeks, experts have puzzled over the crazy lines that show up in satellite images.
Some of the theories have taken wild turns: Maybe they're messages directed at Earth-observing extraterrestrials, or part of a UFO development program, or the remains of ancient cities. But the leading theory is that these patterns serve a variety of purposes for the Chinese military, including calibrating satellite imaging systems and testing radar avoidance techniques. There have also been claims that these are "fractal antennas" to shield underground weapons facilities from ground-penetrating radar.
This particular crazy-quilt pattern was picked up on July 27 from an altitude of 423 miles by the Ikonos satellite, one of the spacecraft in a commercial Earth-imaging constellation operated by GeoEye. The picture is today's offering from the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar, which features views of Earth from space every day until Christmas.
Whatever the precise purpose of these patterns might be, it's not all that unusual for people to draw huge lines in the sand: Consider Peru's famous Nazca Lines, which were etched more than 1,500 years ago to form patterns that look like geometric shapes, insects and birds. Some of those patterns can be seen in their full form only from the air. More recently, archaeologists have puzzled over wheel-like patterns in the Middle East.
What do you think about the Gobi puzzles? Feel free to add your comments below, and check out these past entries from the Advent calendar:
- The full Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
- Dec. 1: An ornament in outer space
- Dec. 2: The masses in Mecca
- Dec. 3: Santa's shrinking domain
- Dec. 4: The monster of Madagascar
- Dec. 5: Antarctica stripped naked
- Dec. 6: Streaking for home
- Dec. 7: Pearl Harbor from above, 1941-2011
- Dec. 8: The rise and fall of the Dead Sea
- Dec. 9: How an eclipse dims Earth
- Dec. 10: Psychedelic storm
- Dec. 11: Beauty of the Inland Sea
- Dec. 12: Drone-spotting stirs up debate
- Dec. 13: Light up your St. Lucy's Day
- Dec. 14: Satellite spots Chinese aircraft carrier
- Dec. 15: Hooray for Hollywood
- Dec. 16: Olympics under construction
- Hubble calendar, from The Atlantic's In Focus
- 2011 Zooniverse Advent calendar
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
Its a message from the ETs to earth...it says "Wow!...what a bunch of a**holes!"... : /
The Return of Drunken Neighborhood Street Designer?
Looks like city streets in a modern neighbor hood.
Rednecks and 4 wheelers. This Bud's for you!!
The lines seem to be very straight and the ground seems to be very hilly. That means that the camera has to be situated exactly over each line or the contours would show up as crooked lines. The higher the camera the less the issue, so maybe these are really straight lines on uneven ground but ???? Maybe is it a Chinese finger puzzle just to keep our sterling intelligence community occupied.
Yan Xuetong, an expert in international security at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University, claims "Do they prepare for war against the United States? My answer is very clear: yes." China has "a three-tiered plan for achieving hegemony (that means a single, all dominant power -- a single axis of power dominating the world). The first is local hegemony. They will move to take back Taiwan -- they are consolidating control over the South China Sea right now, an area about as big as the Mediterranean Sea.... The second stage of hegemony will be regional hegemony where they take back or bring under their control territories that China historically dominated but lost in recent decades." "The third stage,", "from about 2011 to 2014, the Communist Chinese will have a military force superior to the United States. And I don't even think it is arguable that once they achieve that, they are going to use it." China has one of the poorest civil rights records in the world. Its leadership believes the purpose of its citizens is to merely serve the state (i.e. the leaders) and tolerate no activity that may undermine the control of the state over the people. While international trade is important to China, it comes in a distant second to to their primary goal of internal security and becoming a power broker in the world. While the West thinks it is enticing China to join the world in trade, China is using the trade card to position itself for world domination.
Ray, I'm pretty sure you've just parroted someother web site's quotes and without any research, attributed this to Yan Xuetong.
In fact, the quotes you write about may be from Stephen W. Mosher's book, written ca. 2000, and not Mr. Xuetong. This link
quotes Mr. Mosher, with no evidence of any editorial review or accuray. In the future, I suggest a discerning eye when using a blind cut-and-paste.
Attempt #2 at posting link:
discerningtoday.org/members/Digest/2000Digest/October/china_plans_for_world_domination.htm
300 million citizen/soldiers armed and pretty irate right now, i dont think invasion should be on their agenda. yamamoto i think said there would be a gun behind every blade of grass
if you think an armed citizenry is inneffective consider the afgans, primitive by any standard, ill equipped but managed to kick out russia and fight the US literally to a standstill, the US could lose but at what price
Raymond: please stop your paranoid and delsuional China fear mongering. It is 100% ignorant and untrue at its core. Have you actually ever been to China or studied its people and history. I think not. Because if you did, you wouldn't make such glaringly dumb statements like this about the Chinese. my comment in 14.1 is appropriate here too.
"I have to call you on this one. It's not true at all. China is the opposite of "World Domination". They are an insular, isolationist and slightly xenophobic culture. They always try to Wall themselves in from the rest of the world. I don't think they have any interest at all in ruling the world. They are a defensive culture and civilization. European culture/civilization on the other hand are 100% about "world Domination"."
Furthermore, your 3 tiered rant is nothing but imperialistic, idiotic garbage rant.
1. China taking back Taiwan. Of course that's their agenda! It belongs to them. It's their historical property. Before the US and Britain confiscated and stole it from them under force. It's like Mexico coming into the USA and ripping off California. Think we might fight and take it back? I say let them take it back asap. We sure can't govern it.
2. Ditto on your point number 2. This is just silly. China has always been the dominant force in that region of the world. Its people explored and expanded to form the dominant cultures of Asia, including Japan, Korea, Viet Nam, Laos et al! Some even hypothesize the America's as well (Native American Indians). This has been their legacy, historic right and claim for over 5000 years! Their regional dominance was only recently usurped by the viral (to them) dominance and expansion of Europeans into their territories. Very interesting that you are just learning about this. Where in heavens name did you go to school?!
3. Your anti Communist rant about their form of governance is sheer stupidity as you punch away letters on your "China made PC", within a home filled with china made goods bought at "China Inc" WalMart. "Communist China is America's top trading partner. Neither Republican or Democratic American governments have a problem with this. In fact, it was GOP President, Richard Nixon who opened the floodgates to this imbalanced trade with China! If you would come off your "Moses Mountain" for a moment and smell the roses, you clearly see that China's military might comes nowhere near the might or capacity of the USA. And it won't anytime soon. China just launched their very first aircraft carrier this week! I'm sure the Joint Chiefs stay up late at night worrying about that one. We probably helped them build it. The Chinese don't even currently build their own automobiles or Jeeps! Is this the Chinese military armada you so fear in your anti China paranoia? China could have a 1 Billion man army and it wouldn't matter against the strategic weapons technology of the US. Your comment is just paranoid foolishness! Now back to the real discussion of the topic at hand. The mysterious lines.
Maybe they are the vast Chinese Army you fear; marching in cadence through that terrain!
That's actually the layout of the planned course their new aircraft carrier will travel.
China expects a war with the US
China fully expects to have a war with the United States. The minister of defense of the People's Republic of China, Minister Chi Haotian, said not long ago that, "War with the United States was inevitable." Experts notes that "He didn't say 'possible,' he didn't say 'probable,' he said, 'inevitable.'" The Chinese military has been told by president Jiang Zemin to actually prepare for this war. President Jiang Zemin, the head of the country, the head of the Chinese Communist Party, said to his central military commission, the leading generals in the People's Liberation Army, air force and navy, that they should "... prepare for war with the United States.
No, it's not China's way of increasing tourism. It's probably an extraterrestrial road sign stating: Deemed Uninhabitable by the Supreme Council on Interspecies Relations. (they kill and eat their own).
a subdivision but economy being what it is they decided to hold off on building the houses
It's very simple. It's Chinese for f*ck the US. Well I say f*ck you too China! Bring it on!
That is not American soil and it is none of our business.
Look at it, it is a 90 hole golf course with long straight aways, and huge sandtraps.
These aren't simple lines in the sand. These appear to cross mountains and inclines and crevices that would be no easy task. Unfortunately, there is not way to gauge scale here so you can only assume what the length and width of the lines may be based on terrain features. For anyone who tried to give the image 10 seconds of serious consideration, you immediately found out that the joke was on you.
Basically, nobody really expected to get an answer to the mystery by publishing this picture here. It was just to bring in traffic to the website and generate buzz.
There is a measuring tool in Google Earth. The Pattern is about 1800 meters North to South and about 1050 meters East to West.
I think I see the face of Jesus!!!
Clearly evidence of extraterrestrial aliens - rolls eyes.
It looks like a mining operation of some sort by the Chinese. And it seems to follow the pattern of the terrain. Perhaps its being excavated underground?
After futher evaluating the picture, it looks like there are white deposit spots in the process of being exposed on other parts of the terrain. And the whole area looks to have a white underbelly to the light gray topsoil. Limestone mining operation perhaps? That could also mean this is simply a natural process of erosion, drainage or runoff of some sort.
I used Google Earth's Timeline feature to look back at how long these have been in the desert.
This first image is from August 25, 2003. There is no sign of construction.
The lines first started to appear in the April 13, 2005 shot.
Here's a closeup of the construction activity area:
By May 29, 2005, the pattern was mostly finished.
It looks like it hasn't been used for quite a while as the pattern at top is beginning to erode.
Well, my pictures didn't post. Check out Google Earth for yourself at coordinates 40.452107, 93.742118 and look along the timelines.
They are migration goat paths hacked out by child labor shepards.
The sattelite GPS directory makes sense. It needs to be big enough to be seen from up high. Although Alan Boyle reports it is roughly 3 square kilometeres in size, it could represent an under ground bunker or weapons facility. Using the lines to thrwart radar, only attracts attention like this. If we have similiar lines in our desert used for sattelites, it may be a front by the chinese to appear equal in technology and power, or we have sold them some more of OUR technology. The lines are bright white which means that they are not hiding them. They probably want us to see them, making me think its a look at us we have it too. Or just a front. Like the scummy neighbors that some people have that are always trying to ekep up and copy every little thing you do, even though they fail epically. You go outside to take out the trash, low and behold all of a sudden there they are too, making sure that you see them doing the same thing you are
Well the outside edges form a rectangle,the inside creates a sporadic pattern, so my guess is its not a pyramid!
What? We running old stories on a slow news day? This is months old. It was solved months ago. MSNBC ran it months ago. Same comments were made by different people, months ago. DejaVu all over again!
And to think it was all done on the top of a ping pong table.
they have recycled this story word for word from last month, must be running low on news stories.
Some of you people need to go for a walk, or crawl, which ever suits you best.