8 Mysterious Objects That Even Bewilder Scientists

There are many objects and places on Earth that confuse scientists and ordinary tourists just by their sheer existence. Often, our distant ancestors puzzle archaeologists with their mysterious structures that seem to be inspired by nature itself. But even nature can trump our imagination.

At Bright Side, we decided to have a look at mysterious structures and formations that exist on our planet. And in the bonus section, we’ll tell you about one of the most puzzling phenomena that scientists only managed to unravel just recently.

Giant footprints at `Ain Dara Temple, Syria

In the Iron Age temple at ’Ain Dara in Syria, a pair of massive footprints were found carved into the floor and another single footprint carved into the threshold. Each footprint is about 1 m in length, about the size of 3 human feet. The footprint located on the threshold is spaced at about 10 meters from the first set of footprints.

Richat Structure or Eye of the Sahara

The Richat Structure or Eye of the Sahara is a geological feature located in the Sahara desert. At first, geologists believed it was caused by the impact of an asteroid. However, studies debunked the notion after discovering that the rocks within the structure are entirely Earth-based.

Stone Sphere Ball, Bosnia

This is a 10-foot-wide stone ball found in a Bosnian forest. It has a perfect spherical shape and is hotly debated in scientific circles: was it created by Mother Nature or by a lost civilization? After all, Bosnia’s stone balls, which are not thousands but millions of years old, are most likely not a symbol of an unknown civilization, but rather a concretion process.

Teotihuacan, Mexico

Teotihuacan, or the “birthplace of the gods,” is located very close to the modern capital of Mexico, Mexico City. Currently, only tourists can be found in the ruins of Teotihuacan, but more than 100,000 people used to live in this ancient city.

House of the Fairies

Italy is famous for its countless architectural monuments, including the majestic Colosseum and the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. However, there are also some not as popular, but no less interesting, tourist attractions in Italy. One of them is the mysterious House of the Fairies (Domus de Janas) in Sardinia, whose tiny size is more suitable for fairies than for humans. Nowadays, it’s believed that these stone “fairytale houses” are about 6,000 years old, built mostly between 3,400 and 2,700 BCE.

Ellora, India

The Kailasa temple at the Ellora Caves is one of the most mysterious and largest constructions on the planet, which was completely carved out of monolithic stone. Modern archaeologists can only guess why the ancient Indians needed to manually raise such a unique structure.

The Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek

The Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek is a mysterious construction that was built at the beginning of the first millennium CE. Its age is unknown, but its fine ornamentation can be dated to the second century CE. The temple is so big that the famous Parthenon in Athens seems tiny against its backdrop.

Masuda no iwafune, Japan

In different parts of the Asuka region in Japan, there are unusual carved stones known for having square holes, which were made by the ancient inhabitants of Japan for unknown purposes.

Bonus: The mystery of sliding rocks on Racetrack Playa in the US has been unraveled.

There is an amazing place in California called Death Valley National Park. This national park is known for a very specific lake that dried up long ago, and for rocks that move by themselves along its bottom, leaving long furrows behind.

For a long time, the phenomenon of sliding rocks could not be understood. But in 2014, scientists finally found a scientific explanation for it. It turns out that the reason why rocks slide is ice: on frosty nights, the remnants of moisture under the rocks freeze. In the morning, the ice begins to melt and break up which causes them to slide.

Would you ever want to visit one of these places? Which one would you choose? Tell us in the comments below.

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