The laser precision with which the massive rock was cleaved cleanly in two has left a mystery for scientists—and the internet.
“It must be aliens!” the internet resounds.
Looking almost paranormal, a monolithic stone sits in the blistering Saudi Arabian desert, balancing in perfect equilibrium on two slender stone pedestals. It’s inexplicable.
What on Earth—or beyond—created this?
Scientists doubt it was aliens, though human causes haven’t been entirely ruled out.
The signature mushroom shape of the object known as the Al Naslaa rock formation is well understood to geologists, yet the conspicuous, perfectly straight incision slicing down through the middle still baffles.
Some of the facts surrounding the Al Naslaa rock formation, near the Tayma oasis, eight hours from the capital of Riyadh, are known: The giant sandstone rock was eaten away by sand and shaped by nature, and it now balances perfectly on two narrow naturally formed bases. Ancient human tools etched the surface of its sides, crudely depicting what look like ibexes, a horse, and humans.
But nobody knows exactly who—or what—cut the gargantuan rock, which is bisected precisely vertical with perfectly flat planes. Nor how both sides balance in place, separated by mere inches without contacting.
Speculation abounds online.
Scientists have their educated theories too.
Mr. Reston concurs with Wikipedia that it is “probably a joint.”
“If [it is] a joint it might have beautiful ‘plumose’ structures on both sides of the crack—they look like feathers—unless these have been widened by wind erosion,” Mr. Reston said.
More speculations have ventured that “freeze-thaw” split the rock. Over millions of years, water entering cracks in the rock would freeze at night, as desert climates present extreme temperature differences from day to night. The constant expansion and contraction of freezing and thawing water worked deeper and deeper into the rock, causing fracturing that continually grew larger. This coupled with wind and weathering from blown sand opened up the gap between the rocks until now.
Erosion was what initially formed the overall “mushroom” shape, as has been seen in rock formations in similar desert climates in other parts of the world; desert winds are typically stronger down near the ground, and that ate away the base of Al Naslaa.
Fault lines and seismic activity could have also come into play. Some have proposed that earth movements caused the perfectly straight fracture. Yet the impeccable balance that resulted still leaves many in amazement.
Some have suggested that people are responsible. While internet users have posited that humans used a rope and sand, or a saw and a lot of patience, some scientists have also considered the claim of it being man-made plausible.
“Given that past civilizations created Stonehenge and the sculptures on Easter Island with the most basic of tools, it doesn’t seem out of the question that it could be man-made,” geologist Cherry Lewis told the Daily Mail.
Undoubtedly, ancient humans carved the petroglyphs, chiseled engravings, which cover its stone surface. Though it’s unknown who etched these, they are thought to be thousands of years old. Flint tools have been discovered by archeologists in the Saudi desert dating to the 4th millennium B.C.
In order to keep the object free of modern graffiti and abuse, visits to Al Naslaa are organized with guides. It has become a popular destination for photographers seeking a sublime picture—something like a Salvador Dali painting. That’s helped local businesses thrive on tourism.
Yet we haven’t mentioned the most outlandish theories of all. The internet gushes with ideas that ancient aliens sliced the rock, which may lure a particular niche to visit in search of the paranormal.
Were lasers used to effortlessly cleave it like butter? Or was lightsaber training involved? We may never know.
“I’m not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens,” wrote Reddit user El_Hombre_Siniestro, channeling that vein.
Yet another popular idea is that advanced humans caused it. Were there past periods predating known history where technological advancement matched, or exceeded, our own?
Examples such as the pyramids and those cited above, Easter Island and Stonehenge, certainly lend credence to this theory.
Whether it was extraterrestrials or ancient human civilizations, something or someone long ago made this perfectly balanced masterpiece in the middle of nowhere, for no apparent reason—and we are loving it.
