The answer to the phenomenon of stone movement in Death Valley: voices of doubters are already heard

The Death Valley in the United States is known not only as one of the hottest desert valleys on Earth, but also as a place where mysterious stones weigh up to 300 kilograms. The stones move slowly along the clay bottom of the dried-up Lake Raistraek Playa, as evidenced by the long tracks stretching behind them.

For a long time, moving stones were considered a manifestation of supernatural powers. During the gold rush and the development of the western territories of the country, the Death Valley killed more than a dozen people who tried to shorten the route through it through California. Therefore, this place was notorious for a long time, and moving stones confirmed this as well as possible.

In the middle of the last century, researchers from all over the world, who were trying to unravel the cause of this phenomenon, frequented the desert. The stones were photographed, compiled maps of their location with exact coordinates and recorded their movements.

It has been suggested that the stones move under the influence of electromagnetic forces, but they did not find further confirmation.

According to another version, the cause of the phenomenon could be seismic activity in the area of Lake Raistraek Playa. Weak tremors can contribute to the movement of stones. But this theory also proved its failure - after ten years of observation, even a small underground activity in the Death Valley region was not found.

And in 2014, it was announced the unraveling of the mystery of the phenomenon of moving stones. Scripps, an American scientist at the Oceanography Institute, conducted an experiment in which stones were equipped with cameras and navigation sensors. In December, the movement of experimental stones along the bottom of the lake was recorded after its bottom was covered with a layer of ice a few centimeters. As a result of the melting of thin sections of ice, stones, under the influence of wind and gravity, began to slide along the surface of the lake, leaving traces.

But after the sensational discovery, the voices of doubters were heard. For example, geologist George Stanley from the University of Michigan has denied a new theory. He cited the fact that the stones are too heavy for the wind to move them, even with the help of an ice crust. And his experiments have confirmed this.