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.