Just What Are Sailing Stones?
Look at these pictures and let your imagination try to figure out how this came to pass. Stones in the middle of nowhere that leave trails behind them, yet nobody for miles, and no animals either. Just how did they move? What’s making them move?
The Racetrack Playa, or The Racetrack, is a scenic dry lake feature with “sailing stones” that leave linear “racetrack” imprints. It is located above the northwestern side of Death Valley, in Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, California, U.S.
During periods of heavy rain, water washes down from the mountains onto the Playa, forming a shallow, short-lived lake. Under the hot desert sun, the thin veneer of water quickly evaporates leaving behind a surface layer of soft slick mud. As the mud dries, it shrinks and cracks into a mosaic pattern of interlocking polygons.
The phenomenon of “Sailing Rocks” refers to rocks that move, leaving trails differing in both direction and length. Rocks that start next to each other may travel parallel for a time, before one abruptly changes direction to the left, right, or even back the direction it came from. Trail length also varies – two similarly sized and shaped rocks may travel uniformly, then one could move ahead or stop in its tracks.
There are those who believe that environmental factors come into play to provide a balance of specific conditions needed for the stones to move:
- A saturated yet non-flooded surface
- A thin layer of clay
- Very strong gusts of wind as the initiating force
- Strong sustained wind to keep the stones going
Others say it is a matter of extreme temperature shifts at night which result in ice forming. Add to this strong winds which cause the rocks to slide hence leaving the mysterious trails in the slick mud similar to the sport “curling” played on ice.
This leads to many questions that are still today unanswered. Yes, logically it makes sense, but how do the scientists explain rocks that move in the same direction then veer off in opposite directions; or a small and big rock side by side, yet only the big rock moves? It’s bizarre, and still a phenomenon today as nobody has seen them moving, or not yet anyway.
Have a look at the videos and photos below also…
Tsem Rinpoche
Or view the video on the server at: http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/MovingRocks.flv
Or view the video on the server at: http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/DeathValleySlidingRocksMystery.flv
Can anyone guess what this might be?? I am interested to hear your opinion. Tsem Rinpoche
I take the scientific approach and will also venture to say that the people out there are over analyzing the rocks and underestimating the power and complexity of weather!
BOO-YA, one sentence… who has a different opinion I’m curious what it could be. Use your Spock logic you will think the cause is found by deduction and reasoning. If you use your Hippy logic then it’s probably Space Gnomes (again). If you use your imagination just about anything could be moving the rocks. Weather has every element needed to move the rocks SO randomly that it is baffling. I saw a show on T.V. about this once.
I always thought that the sailing stones were related to sudden magnetic pulls in the earth’s crust. Many of my other theories are less likely. My other theories would be UFO’s, strong winds and ghosts. Hehe. Maybe the stones are just right to fit some probes to scan the Earth. It is a possibility.
hmm my guess would probably be about the huge temperature changes between night and day which pushes them around…
Could be a Jedi training ground, lol.
If the rocks can move in opposite directions, then probably it’s not the wind.
Perhaps it could be invisible supernatural forces or beings at work here.
Thank you for this interesting info! I’d never heard of sailing stones before!
I found this video which explains that the rocks are moved when sometimes there is rain left after a storm which is driven by strong desert winds. The water turns to sheets of ice on the ground because it’s below freezing at night. As the wind shifts, these sheets of ice move and rocks which are within it are dragged across this ground. It’s a possible answer. Here’s the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hoiHvOeGc&feature=player_embedded