Message #17802

[Bianca]

Desert Artists

 

"Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled"

– Richard Feynman

 

"Only within recent years, since the development of universal communications allowed us to compare the antiquities of our own countries with those of others, have we been able to see the extent of the vast ruin within which we all live. If we ignore all alterations to the landscape arising within the last three thousand years and consider the world as it must have looked in prehistoric times, the pattern that emerges is one so incompatible with our idea of civilization that it is easy entirely to miss its significance. For what we find is this: A great scientific instrument lies sprawled over the entire surface of the globe. At some period, thousands of years ago, almost every corner of the world was visited by people with a particular task to accomplish. With the help of some remarkable power, by which they could cut and raise enormous blocks of stone, these men created vast astronomical instruments, circles of erect pillars, pyramids, underground tunnels, cyclopean stone platforms, all linked together by a network of tracks and alignments, whose course from horizon to horizon was marked by stones, mounds and earthworks."

- John Michell(1995)

In 1975 I flew over the Nazca plain in Peru, since the figures and patterns can only be recognized from the air, along with a small intrepid group of fellow mystery-mongers.

For me the Nazca lines represent the most persuasive piece of physical evidence in support of the Ancient Astronaut (AA) hypothesis. Although hundreds of writers have generated thousands of pages about the lines and figures, I have not been able to find a sensible explanation of how they were made, or by whom, or for what purpose. It seems obvious that the lines were made from the air. They could have been used as landmarks to be seen from space, or perhaps the AA’s were simply venting their artistic impulse on a convenient giant "etch-a-sketch"; however what I feel is most likely is that they used the Nazca plain to test and calibrate the instrument which they used throughout South America, and perhaps elsewhere on Earth, to delineate "roads" and radial "ceques" linking important sites. I think that the lines were probably created by using an instrument which could sweep away shallow paths of varying widths. I think "the sweeper" was probably something as simple as a high-pressure water stream operating in much the same way as we use a garden hose to wash gravel from our driveways. Certainly, with the Nazca plain bordering on the sea, there would have been a plentiful water supply.

Some of the less precise drawings suggest that the sweeper might have been a gimbaled device which was guided by hand, similar to the machine-gun mounts on old bombers; however the great precision of many of the figures suggests that it more likely was a computerized device which used pre-stored images, such as modern computer driven routers. For these drawings the aircraft would have had to hover quite stably.

Here's how I think they were made:

The 2800 foot long "Needle and Thread" drawing (Fig 3-1, adapted from Discover Magazine, December 2000) begins at the bottom of the figure as a wide beam; the beam is focused to a line as it moves up the "needle"; the artist then uses a oscillatory motion to delineate the borders of a plateau; and ends up drawing a spiral, a common motif at ancient sites (perhaps that’s his signature telling us he is from the galaxy, which also happens to have the shape of a gigantic spiral!)

 

 

Fig 3-1. "Needle and Thread" Image, Nazca, Peru

Although most of the figures were simply outlined with narrow lines, the variable width feature of the sweeper, as one can also do with the nozzle of a water hose, permitted the drawing of "filled-in" figures.

The 140 foot long spider (Fig3-2) is one of the best known Nazca figures. The lines which extend from the rightmost hind leg of the spider establish that the drawing begins at this point. The entrance line, the parallel line to the right, started with a broad beam which was focused to a line, and the hindquarters of the insect were drawn first.

 

Fig 3-2. The "Spider"

 

Most of the other animal figures were drawn in this same manner, with an entrance line, an continuous line sketch of the animal, and an exit line parallel to the entrance line. In Fig 3-3 the entrance-exit line-pair join the "hummingbird" at the beak.

 

Fig 3-3. The "Hummingbird"

 

The "Trident of Paracas", a 600 ft high drawing over the bay of Paracas demonstrates that the beam power of the sweeper could be adjusted to provide a much deeper excavation than was used elsewhere; also the furrows of the spiral figure at Nazca were reported to be "about a foot deep". Incidentally the Trident is the largest petroglyph in south America. Zecharia Sitchin (1990) makes a rather convincing argument that the Trident of Paracas was the symbol of the Sumerian god Adad, or ISH.KUR ("He of the far mountains") who was in charge of mining in SA. His other epithet was ZABAR DIB.BA ("He who bronze obtains and divides")

Apparently the AA’s sweeper helped the Incas create their remarkable 25,000 mile "road" system. Hadingham (1987) relates that "Along the north coast…several sections of Inca roads run for 25 miles or more with scarcely any visible deviation. The major coastal artery, in particular, often ignores minor geographic obstacles, passing straight over rocky hills rather than curving around them."

For other references on the Nazca lines see Isbella (1978), McIntyre (1978), Hadingham (1987), Morrison (1988), Von Daniken (1998)

Although the Nazca lines are the most famous, similar lines have been reported in Bolivia, the USA, Chile, and as "ley" lines in Great Britain.

Other huge ground drawings can be found on the 2000 ft high Atacama Desert in Chili, about 600 mile south of Nazca. The desert is literally covered, for many miles, with "geo-glyphs". Together they constitute the "zoo of the Atacama", immense stylized figures.

Traveling another 250 miles south, in the region of Tarapaca province, on a mountain called Cerro Unitas, we find the "giant", a huge (600 ft) ground figure with "antennae" radiating from the side and top of it's head. The drawing "cannot be recognized from the ground since it wraps up over the crest of the mountain." (Clarke, 1982). This I take to be hard evidence that these figures were created from the air. It’s location next to the "lone mountain" also suggests that it was a beacon. It is the largest known ground drawing of a stylized figure.

Zecharia Sitchin (1980) writes about the 30th parallel, reporting that on this line lie the Tilmun site and the "sacred cites" of Giza-Heliopolis (Egypt), Eridu (Mesopotamia), Persepolis (Persia), Harappa (Indus valley), and Lhasa (Tibet). He further suggests that "Indeed, were we to study all these sites, all of Earth would probably be encompassed."

The Nazca desert - a testing and calibration site for the devices used to mark the Earth? by AAs? from the air? I think so!