June 24, 2020
Posted by in Natural Phenomenon, Videos | 8.15am
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:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/MovingRocks.mp4
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/DeathValleySlidingRocksMystery.mp4
[Source: http://planetoddity.com/the-mysterious-sailing-stones-of-death-valley/]
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15 Comments
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Sailing stones, are a geological phenomenon where rocks move and slide across the surface or on long tracks along a smooth valley floor .Scientist have been wondering how these happened and puzzled by the mysterious “sailing stones .
Actually we need to thank the mother earth for creating all the wonders and miracles.Thank you very much for this good sharing.
When i first read this article I did wonder too , how this ever happen. Somehow its real, a geological phenomenon where rocks move without human interference. Known as “sailing stones,” the rocks vary in size from a few ounces to hundreds of pounds. One of the world’s strangest phenomena is at Death Valley National Park in Inyo County, California, U.S. Till today, scientists could not have an answer to this strange phenomena where nobody have seen it moving at all.
Thank you for this sharing.
Thank you for the sharing the mystery of the sailing stone. Actually we need to thank the mother earth for creating all the wonders and miracles. Making scientists puzzled in their research and a loss to explain how or why rocks appear to move around by themselves.
It is very interesting and sound crazy. I never heard of this phenomenon before, but those photos made me google for further information.. I really hope to get here one day just to feel the extraordinary scenery and to witness the incredible phenomenon. Enjoyed the article and the photos.
First time hearing this word Sailing Stones…..new word to me. Amazing …….Sailing stones, are a geological phenomenon where rocks move and slide across the surface or on long tracks along a smooth valley floor .Scientist have been wondering how these happened and puzzled by the mysterious “sailing stones . Death Valley National Park — is home to one of the world’s natural wonders: “sailing stones” that mysteriously meander across the dried mud. Well….up today the mystery of these moving rocks cannot be explained. Very interesting….. What is impossible is always possible.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this information on sailing stones. This the first time i have seen and heard about it. Truly amazing! Can’t imagine such a heavy rock and move like this! 🙂
Whatever phenomena actually moved the stones, it’s nature. It just goes to say how fascinating mother nature is. There are endless phenomena and conditions that mankind have yet fully understand about nature. Hence, the mysteries, the myths, the unexplained. At the rate we are discovering Earth, our universe and even the human itself, it seems unlikely that mankind will ever fully unravel all the mysteries of this world anytime soon.
What moved the sailing stones is not just one element of nature but a combination of elements that came together in perfect harmony at the same time. In December 2013, the “perfect” condition came and GPS-embedded rocks started moving, with the heaviest weighing in at 35 pounds. The rocks reached blazing speeds of 9-16 feet per minute. Most importantly, the race was caught on camera.
Ohh! So the are able to move because of strong wind and slippery mud or ice. Dear Rinpoche, when I first started to read this article I thought this article is going to be something paranormal or alien moving rocks. LOL I so naive. But for people that doesn’t know about this news they will be freak out when they see the trials behind the rock.
I just finished the blog. Really very helpful. Thanks for sharing such an amazing blog.
The thing about Sailing stones is that the area in which they are located are is at a dry lake. The lake is not always dry. So when there is rain, the stones move. When the lake gets wet, the stones move. They do not really sail on their own.
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
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.
hmm my guess would probably be about the huge temperature changes between night and day which pushes them around…
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.
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.
Can anyone guess what this might be?? I am interested to hear your opinion. Tsem Rinpoche