The Atacama Giant of Chile is over a thousand years old!

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19°56'57.18"S 69°38'0.87"W

The Atacama Giant is located in the Atacama Desert near "Cerro Unitas", Chile. It is the largest prehistoric anthropomorphic figure in the world with a height of 86 meters and represented a deity for the local inhabitants (Atacameno Tribe) from 1000 to 1400 AD.

This creepy ship graveyard has a sinister explanation.

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20°52'6.44"N 17° 2'50.79"W

This has got to be one of the eeriest places on the planet. The ships pictured here at Nouadhibou, Mauritania (formerly Port-Étienne) are just a few of the hundreds of ships that have been abandoned here to rot in a ship's graveyard. For years, Mauritanian harbor officers were so corrupt, that they let ships be discarded in the harbor in exchange for wads of cash. Disposing of ships legally can be quite expensive for a company, so during this period, lots of unwanted ships ended up here... over 300 in all.

The Curiously Circular Pyramids of Guachimontes

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20°41'41.91"N 103°50'3.65"W

Guachimontes, near the town of Teuchitlán in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, is the site of some very unique circular stepped pyramids. Built between 300 BC and 900 AD, the round pyramids were surrounded by buildings, and may have held temples at their peaks.

Check out this Giant Gobi Desert Glyph... from a glider!

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39°45'6.33"N 98°13'2.00"E

Full-scree This gigantic glyph (3300 feet long by 2100 feet wide) can be found in the desert just west of the city of Jiayuguan in Gansu, China. It also happens to be a few hundred yards from the beginning of the Great Wall of China, or at least, its remnants. The glyph is of modern construction, and my guess is, it's a pictogram for "Jiayuguan," designed to be seen from the air. It is probably no coincidence that Jiayuguan also happens to be the home of one of the largest glider centers in the world.

The 10th Hole Golf Club has a secret you can only figure out from the air!

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36° 2'13.61"N 115° 5'8.66"W

When you get to the 1oth hole at the Legacy Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada, you can see tee boxes in the shapes of the four suits common to a deck of cards - hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades. The course was designed by golf course architect Arthur Hills.

Sculpture Garden, Near Cardiff, Wales

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51°22'56.71"N 3°20'19.36"W

Just south of Cardiff International Airport in Wales lies a sculpture garden consisting of several large glyphs constructed of gravel. There is also a circular standing stone sculture.

How did this landlocked aircraft carrier end up in this little lake?

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31° 6'18.33"N 121° 0'46.76"E

Sure looks like a landlocked aircraft carrier, doesn't it? But in fact, it is a full-sized replica constructed entirely out of concrete, part of a Chinese theme park near Quingpu (Shanghai Province) called "Oriental Land." Here's a picture of it from ground level.

Sometimes, apparently, the aircraft carrier also has a submarine parked next to it. The park features a lot of military displays, including MIG fighters, helicopters, artillery pieces, missiles, and ship replicas.

Chand Baori - An Amazing Indian Stepwell

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27° 0'25.90"N 76°36'25.96"E

In the village of Abhaneri, near Jaipur, Rajastan (India) there is a stepwell called Chand Baori. It is one of the oldest, largest, and deepest stepwells in India. It was built in the 9th century and has 3500 narrow steps and 13 stories and is 100 feet deep. The architecture reminds one of an M.C. Escher lithograph.

Amphitheater in a Coal Mine, Germany

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51°33'0.57"N 6°52'37.66"E

At the very top of the "mining tip" of a gargantuan pile of rubble from the Halde Haniel Coal Mine in Bottrop, Germany sits an amphitheater built in 1999, which seats 800 people. Along the upper ridges of the man-made caldera sit lines of over 100 painted wooden "totems" made from railroad ties and set into concrete bases. The Prosper-Haniel coalmine was created in 1974 and is still in operation.

Tetrahedron, Bottrop-Batenbrock, Germany

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51°31'37.00"N 6°57'39.23"E

High atop a 65 meter high coal mine spoil tip in Bottrop-Batenbrock Germany sits a steel construction called the "Tetrahedron" (or in German, "Tetraeder"). It is 60 meters high, and has three viewing platforms for those brave enough to climb the winding stairs to them. The flat gravelly area below the Tetrahedron allows for geoglyphs to be placed by artists, and then viewed from above. The mandala (seen above, left) was replaced briefly with "aliens" (above, lower right) in 2006.

Harney Basin Glyphs, Southeast Oregon

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42°33'44.44"N 119°32'35.08"W

These geoglyphs can be found west of Flook Lake, southeast Oregon, in the Harney Basin. The glyphs on the right seem to be a series of five nested concentric rings, with the largest being close to 1000 feet in diameter. There are a multitude of other glyphs nearby, though it's difficult to determine what they are supposed to represent. It's possible the glyphs were formed using the alkali salts readily available from the dry playa lake bed, in much the same way as the chalk geoglyphs of the british isles.

Mysterious Hart Mt. Antelope Refuge "Hotdog"

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42°32'42.94"N 119°29'54.69"W

I'm sure there is a very logical and simple explanation for this, whatever it is. What it looks like, is a giant hotdog. It is 355 feet long, and 150 feet wide, situated in the center of what appears to be a playa lake bed (with alkali salt flats) on or near the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge, Oregon. The site is approximately 20 miles east of Chandler State Park. Anyone have any ideas?

Hombre del Rio, Cordoba, Spain

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37°52'46.04"N 4°46'28.24"W

In April 2006, the "Hombre del Rio", or Man of the River, mysteriously appeared in the Guadalquivir river. Even city officials claimed that no one had gotten approval to place the large sculpture of a bathing man in the middle of the river! It was later learned that it was the product of Cordovan artists Rafael Cornejo and Francisco Marcos. It is built of polyester, and weighs 2,000 kilograms. It's 5 meters long and affixed to the river bed with an anchor chain 12 meters long.

Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, Texas

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35°11'15.04"N 101°59'12.97"W

Cadillac Ranch is a large example of land art near Amarillo, Texas. It was created in 1974 by by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group called Ant Farm. Cadillac Ranch is visible from the highway, and though it is located on private land, visiting it is tacitly encouraged. In addition, writing graffiti on or otherwise spray-painting the vehicles is also encouraged, and the vehicles, which have long since lost their original colors, are wildly decorated.

Freeway Art Projects, Phoenix, Arizona

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33°26'14.94"N 111°58'46.13"W

A nice example of the sort of freeway art projects being done in Phoenix, Arizona. This design is just south of Sky Harbor International Airport, and just a stone's throw away from the "freeway turtles" featured elsewhere in this blog.

Excuse me, but there's a giant monkey on the golf course...

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13°10'9.67"N 59°37'2.73"W

Its a green monkey. On a golf course. In Barbados. 'Nuff said. LOL

The sands of the Chinese Desert are trying to tell us something, but what?

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40°27'22.08"N 93°24'3.65"E

Okay, this huge geoglyph (1.07 mi. x 0.84 mi.) is a complete mystery to me. It's in an area of the Chinese desert near Mongolia and the western end of the Great Wall of China, which lies in ruins and small chunks in this part of the country. The glyph pictured here is actually one of several in the area. There is another nearby that resembles this one (described as looking like a stained glass window), two that resemble small simulated airports, and another smaller glyph that looks like a section of highway. Most of the glyphs are pockmarked, which suggests they may be part of a military target range. Even if that is the case, this "stained glass" pattern is a mystery, since it doesn't resemble anything bombers would typically target in real life. Also, the fact that this is something of a tourist area and significant archaeological site would be an argument against military targets. Anyone have any ideas?

Is this the Actual Gateway to Shangrila?

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27°51'29.81"N 99°43'13.82"E

Is it the "real" Shangrila? Well, yes and no. The original Shangrila was a fictional place in the novel "Lost Horizon", by James Hilton. In 2001, Zhongdian County, China, renamed itself Shangrila County in order to promote tourism. Many travelers use the county as a gateway to Tibet. However, the town of Zhongdian itself is a tourist destination, primarily due to the nearby Gandan Sumtseling Monastery.

Giant Turtles on the Freeway!

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33°25'49.71"N 111°58'46.11"W

Two big 'uns, three babies... alongside the Sky Harbor Expressway, just south of Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, Arizona.

Do Giants Bowl? If so, here's where they do it!

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This large artwork can be found at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Eindhoven, Netherlands. 'Flying pins' is a piece of art by artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. It consists of a bowling ball sunk in the ground with ten pins flying around.
The sculpture is constructed of fiberglass and is almost 9 meters tall at its highest point.

A Whale of a Picture!

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26°50'4.16"N 113° 8'22.52"W

This is a geoglyph of a mother whale and her calf near Laguna San Ignacio, Baja Californa, Mexico. To give you an idea of the immense size of this glyph, note the small town to the left of it. The glyph is over 2000 feet long from head to tail, and about 1200 feet wide. It is probably of recent construction, to publicize a nearby whale-watching sanctuary. Does anyone know anything more about it?

This Train is Made Entirely Out of Bricks!

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54°31'23.84"N 1°29'52.52"W

No, it's not a train that hauls bricks.... It's a train made entirely of bricks! The Darlington "Brick Train" was opened on Monday, 23rd June 1997. It was modeled on the 1938 record setting 126mph steam locomotive "Mallard". Funded by the National Lottery and various other sponsors, it contains a total of 185,000 bricks along with 170 cubic meters of concrete. The train weighs 15,000 tonnes and covers an area of 600 sq meters. It is of hollow construction and measures 23ft high by 130ft long. It took a team of 34 brick layers, laborers and apprentices 21 weeks to build.

This "Moose Cage" could hold thousands of moose! (Mooses? Meese?)

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61°15'50.37"N 149°50'49.18"W

This huuuge antenna array is an FLR-9 Antenna, which is located on Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. This type of antenna is part of the "Iron Horse" network, and is used for radio direction finding. It is 1,443 feet (439.8 m) in diameter, and can pinpoint signals from up to 4000 miles away.

Is this a photograph of two very large UFO's parked at Area 51?

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50°56'44.40"N 4°23'43.79"E

Actually, no, it isn't. But made you look, didn't it? This isn't Area 51 at all... it's the airport at Grimbergen, Belgium, and those "UFOs" are actually unique airplane hangars which were constructed out of concrete in 1947. The airport itself was constructed in the 1930's to help Belgium defend against the Nazis, but ultimately ended up being more useful to the Nazis than to the Belgians.

Here's a view of the hangars from a different perspective. They don't look quite as "saucer-ish" from this angle. In fact, they look more like big bowls.  Fascinating, but hardly extra-terrestrial.

No, really... We Love Aircraft Noise!

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51°11'3.00"N 4°30'8.50"E

This rooftop message can be found in the town of Borsbeek, Belgium - not surprisingly, just off the east end of the Antwerp Airport. The structures surrounding the sign appear to be greenhouses, or something similar.

You know about Stonehenge, but have you seen FridgeHenge?

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35°41'35.27"N 105°58'27.59"W

FridgeHenge once existed outside of Sante Fe, New Mexico. It was constructed in 2003 out of junked refrigerators, and resembled the famous Stonehenge megalithic site in England. The site was created by the artist Adam Jonas Horowitz. The site no longer exists, since all of the refrigerators were removed after a number of complaints from neighbors.