It’s long been known that the stone monoliths that make up the mysterious Stonehenge site in the UK traveled a great distance to get there, but up to this point the exact origin of the stones was unknown. Now, a team of British geologists have found the exact site from which the innermost circle of bluestone rocks were quarried.
Stonehenge, as we’ve all been told, is an ancient moon temple/burial ground/alien landing site that was fashioned by the Danes/a giant/a race of intelligent space-faring stonemasons. Its larger stones have been approximately sourced to a site just 20 miles away, but the kinds of rhyolite debitage stones that make up the inner circle and horseshoe--thought to have been placed some 5,000 years ago--can’t be found for hundreds of miles.
Using petrography (which is basically the science of getting down to the gritty details of rocks), a team from the University of Leicester and the National Museum of Wales sampled the mineral makeup of several large outcroppings of rock in Pembrokeshire, Wales. They then cross-referenced those with Stonehenge’s rhyolites. They found a match with a 215-foot stretch of rock called Craig Rhos-y-Felin in north Pembrokeshire. That’s 160 miles from Stonehenge).There’s still plenty of mystery surrounding Stonehenge, not least of which is how (and why) an ancient culture moved such huge chunks of stone 160 miles. One theory holds that glaciers actually moved the rocks during the last ice age, while others think the stone was quarried in Pembrokeshire and somehow hauled from Wales to the Stonehenge site (a task most easily accomplished with a spaceship and a tractor beam--just sayin’).
By pinpointing exactly where the stone came from researchers hope to zero in on some answers.
[Wired UK]
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im betting the got the rocks to a coast then boated them up n shipped them to to a closer coast. just my thoughts tho. noone actually knows how they got them that far.
".....They then cross-referenced those with Stonehenge’s rhyolites. They found a match with a 215-foot stretch of rock called Craig Rhos-y-Felin in north Pembrokeshire...."
I enjoyed this bit of the article.
Nothing is impossible when you have massive amounts of disposable slave labor...i.e. the Great Pyramids.
"...the stones have a roughhewn and weathered look. They vary in size and weight ranging from over 100 feet and 50 tons,.."
"...these people had the motivation to see the project to completion over a period of over 1500 years, without any deviation from the original plans..."
Alohawaii,
Do you consider your labor disposable? Do you feel other people feel the same way over a 1500 year period? Ever try shaping granite with copper tools; it does not really chip and the tip of the tool only last 5 minutes. When you choose a goal, do you choose to do it the hardest way possible in a manner you have never done before?
Someone (alien to these people) with the knowledge motivated these people and had the knowledge of what to do. Once the project was done, he packed up his tools and knowledge and left. We know this, because the knowledge and tools have not been found or repeated, i.e. the Great Pyramids.
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Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
The Earth is 3.7 billion years old. The Cosmos is 13.7 billion years old. The Earth was made from the elements of the Cosmos. These elements are found everywhere else in the Cosmos. Life could exist elsewhere in the Cosmos. Old and more intelligent life could exist in the Cosmos.
Take a simple man, from a simple family, at a simple village who lives off the land and has basic tools and no written language. How would explain and keep in his history an experience of a outer space encounter? He would know this is an important event and would keep the story and he would use the vocabulary and knowledge of his time, including local religious superstitions. He would most likely add what he sees to his local religion.
I feel most people deny the possibility of past alien visitation, because they know this could undermine what they believe in their own religions. But ask this person, if there could be aliens far away more advance than us in outer space and this same person can sure, it is possible.
I find it funny how humans can selectively close our minds to other possibilities.
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If the local Stone Hedge People were only interested in a calendar, they could of built it out of wood and used it in their own life time and been done with it. Why didn't they do this?
.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
The Earth is 3.7 billion years old. The Cosmos is 13.7 billion years old. The Earth was made from the elements of the Cosmos. These elements are found everywhere else in the Cosmos. Life could exist elsewhere in the Cosmos. Old and more intelligent life could exist in the Cosmos.
Take a simple man, from a simple family, at a simple village who lives off the land and has basic tools and no written language. How would explain and keep in his history an experience of a outer space encounter? He would know this is an important event and would keep the story and he would use the vocabulary and knowledge of his time, including local religious superstitions. He would most likely add what he sees to his local religion.
I feel most people deny the possibility of past alien visitation, because they know this could undermine what they believe in their own religions. But ask this person, if there could be aliens far away more advance than us in outer space and this same person can sure, it is possible.
I find it funny how humans can selectively close our minds to other possibilities.
..................................................
If the local Stone Hedge People were only interested in a calendar, they could of built it out of wood and used it in their own life time and been done with it. Why didn't they do this?
.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
The Bible agrees somewhat with your view. The Genesis account details fallen Angels mimicking the form of humans and taking wives from the population, who in turn bore oversize hybrid children know as the Nephilim or 'fellers of men'. With knowledge on a cosmic level like theirs, infusing a few advanced tools and know how into large scale projects would leave a select group of mortals with advanced skills for later times. However overlooking mans ability to dominate and or enslave his peers shouldn't be underestimated...it's still happening as of yet.
if we are the only intelligent life in the universe the a) thats a big waste of space and b) god set the bar pretty low
if life on earth is a 1 in a trillion chance then there are trillions of planets with life on them
@beefymclovin: the welsh coast is the closest coast from Wiltshire in a direct line from the two places. It's been known for ages that they came from Wales, and they are thought to have been moved using trees as rollers and then lifted into place with the trees fashioned into an A-frame... That's the information told around Wiltshire anyway.
Reading from the Bible, once upon a time we had Giants roaming the land. Perhaps Stonehenge was just a nice place to rest their pizza dish as they had pizza.
I am just saying,..... lol.
While I'd like to be part of a galactic community, the reality of the vast size of space and the distance between habitable planets makes the odds of Earth being visited by aliens slim to none. Further, the lack of extraterrestrial radio signals indicates there aren't any aliens "near by."
But, you say, maybe they travel faster than light? Maybe they can travel through time? Maybe they're snobby and don't want to use frequencies between 1200 and 3000 MHz.
Ok, then where are they? Oh, they've been here, you say? Ok, then why do they always pick some moron's corn field in the Midwest to make contact?
Face it, Stonehenge was made by people. Be proud of that.
There is some dude on youtube building Stonehenge in his back yard by himself. He uses leverage to move and lift the stones with lumber. Takes forever though, moving the stones an inch at a time.
it was "ancient astronauts" that built this for us.
"religion is like a prison for the seekers of wisdom"
-Killah Priest
The answers to the Stonehenge are in Armenia, where a much older Stonehenge can be found. It was built 8000 years before the Stonehenge in Britain. Even the word ending of 'henge' is a derivative from the Armenian word 'hoonge', meaning echo. The descendents of the people who built both structures are still living in what has been left over from their ancient lands. The forces behind the rise of Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations are also present there. You can see, for example, the exact symbols from the caves in Armenia that have served as models for the same symbols in Egypt, which the former goes back as far as 9000 years before the first Egyptian hieroglyphs.
V. Setyan, PhD
There is no God. Stop it with such backward and primitive thinking. Its in invention of the mind for the mind.
The purpose of Stonehenge seems obvious to me. Someone of great knowledge and great leadership skills and perhaps an exceptional long life span left his mark to be seen over the course of time.
Of course, their can also be much more to be learned too.
.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
@ Robot: I read your comment and I want to answer one part of it. There was a question in your comment that asked "why if they wanted a calender...why not make it out of wood?", well they did make one out of wood, but over the centuries it has disappeared completely.
pirateblue,
Cool information. I appreciate the extra info.
Merry Ho! Ho!
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Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
It is sad that a generation of educators has taught a generation of young minds that there is mutual exclusivity between god and science. This is mostly a political and ideological thread that limits knowledge and supports the spread of socialism and communism.
If scientific minds can dream up suppositions that aliens exist, that they have visited earth, etc., why is that the supernatural aspects of religion are considered "primitive" and "backward".
Let's compare biblical research with the global warming debate. Biblical scholars and archaeologists are constantly finding new evidence discovered in digs and revising/updating their views and analysis of ancient writings. On the other hand, the East Anglia researchers who want everyone to HAVE FAITH in their findings about man-made global warning will not share their raw data or details about how they researched their findings.
Where is the darknesss, the primitive, the backwardness in this situation? Science should not be blinded by political correctness any more than it should be closed off by religious doctrine.
I grew up in the 60's . . I was taught that good science was based on having an open mind and searching for truth. Even the hallowed Sir Isaac Newton, revered by today's scientific propagandists, believed in god or the possibility of god.
Rationalism is not science . . it is just another form of religion, in my mind.
In most cases, scientific processes would presume that a paticular truth is not proven until it is evidenced. Anything associated with religion is considered false without any examination at all by today's scientific community.
Under this type of system, the existence of natural phenomena that cannot be explained by science should be considered "not to exist" until it can be explained by scientific theory or proof. It is backward and primitive to adhere to science as a method of defining reality and then apply it inconsistently to that reality.
Slim , If I may. It seems you are coming at science from a religious angle, and if completely factual or relevant, your statements would presume to indict science as close minded, resistant to change, dogmatic, and requiring faith over empirical evidence. Wow. It isn't atheists trying to ban teaching evolution, or important medical research over very weak issues. Nor do they outright deny the theory of evolution. I agree with the statement that God and Science are not mutually exclusive, but in the sense that all of science, as it evolves, falls under the scientific method and its rigors. Noone is stopping you from ascribing ultimate importanc to whatever God you choose. If you choose to believe that God created everything, then what is it to anyone what method God chose? Maybe 4 Billion years of planetary formation and evolution are like snapping his fingers. The Pope himself has stated that evolution is the method God used to create man, end of story (for any Catholics). I wonder why there is such a huge Luddite fraction of Christianity that feels like every new discovery , especially regarding evolution or cosmology brings out the religious fruitbats, all in a fluster over this neww 'assault'n on their beliefs. The arguments are trite and sometimes are truly inane, to attack what? I think it is hubris to assume to truly know ANYTHING about GOd's true nature, should he/she/it/they exist. Anything so powerful, to have actually created the entire universe (think about that for a second, the UNIVERSE), has a nature that we may never be able to truly comprehend. To waste time arguing over these things is almost an insult to God's creation. He laid this mystery here for all of us, as we unravel it, we come closer to knowing God, and ourselves. Oh, and if a few more CHristians would actually just live the values Jesus expounded and forget the old testament altogether, America and the world in general would be much better off. I know a few Christians like that, and they are very rare and wonderful. When you denounce science, you deny all the wonder of creation, and belittle the power of your own creator.
@Pirateblue...I think I heard that too. I remember hearing something about a wooden one not far from the stone one. Regarding aliens, I enjoy the show Ancient Aliens and they make some compelling arguements, but overall, I don't believe it. When it comes to Stonehene and the Pyramids I feel that our ancestors are all too often are denied the credit for their ingenuity that they deserve. Just because they didn't have computures and tractors doesn't mean they were stupid. Some years back, a team of people built a replica of some of the structures using tools that would have been available to them at the time. I think it would be funny if something like Stonehenge was built just to screw with people later on in the centuries.
Science always asks "can we," but doesn't seem to ask "should we."
"It is sad that a generation of educators has taught a generation of young minds that there is mutual exclusivity between god and science."
That's because science studies the natural world, not the supernatural world. Get the difference?
"If scientific minds can dream up suppositions that aliens exist, that they have visited earth, etc., why is that the supernatural aspects of religion are considered "primitive" and "backward". "
I have news for you. Those were not "scientific minds" that made up those suppositions. It was a bunch of lunatics looking to make a buck by entertaining the gullible. I will be that you won't find anyone who could be properly described as a "scientist" who believes that ancient aliens stuff.
Robot,
So you believe that some ancient aliens came a billion-jillion light years across space for the sole purpose of helping some ancient people move rocks? That's a lot of gas to spend to make some hokey monuments that are no good to them.
Meanwhile, they didn't leave any of their technology behind. No worn-out alien tennis shoes. No lost cell phones, and no garbage pit from their left over cans of alien food. Likewise, they apparently never built any of their own facilities on the ground that might still be found. No dormitories, or hangars, or maintenance facilities to change worn-out spark plugs in the old space jalopy. They preferred to just hover in the air and move rocks.
Just FYI, Robot, if someone comes to earth for any period of time, then they will inevitably leave traces. Old garbage pits with alien cans of peas and worn-out shoes would be the first things that would be found.
Then, of course, there would be the obvious questions. Like, for instance, instead of going to all the trouble to haul a bunch of big rocks around, why didn't they just teach the locals make cement?
One of the most obvious frauds is that supposed carving of a helicopter in an Egyptian tomb. Never mind that such a helicopter would require an aluminum plant, several other high-tech mining and manufacturing facilities, as well as some good-sized repair facilities to repair rotors turn up by desert dust. That's not to mention that, if there were any helicopters in ancient Egypt at all, then there would be more than one - and references to them would be far more common in an ancient society where we know the history so well that we know what people wore to particular parties.
Those ancient alien shows are really funny when you do any kind of real-world analysis. The funniest thing is that people believe them.
"I grew up in the 60's . . I was taught that good science was based on having an open mind and searching for truth."
Me, too. In my classes, they covered something called the "scientific method." Did you miss that part?
You see, there is more to it than just having an open mind so you believe anything that someone tells you. There is actually a method for determining what is fact, and what isn't.
Does this idea ring a bell at all?
Robot wrote:
"Ever try shaping granite with copper tools; it does not really chip and the tip of the tool only last 5 minutes."
No, because I am not that stupid. I don't think the stonehenge people were either. If you want to shape granite, the tools are all around you. All you need is another piece of granite or some rock that is harder. This ain't rocket surgery.
"Someone (alien to these people) with the knowledge motivated these people and had the knowledge of what to do. Once the project was done, he packed up his tools and knowledge and left. We know this, because the knowledge and tools have not been found or repeated, i.e. the Great Pyramids."
I guess you overlooked the fact that the Egyptians had been building pyramids for about 1,000 years before they built the Great Pyramids. The historical record shows a clear progression from early pyramids built with bricks to the grander ones. We even know when they figured out the proper angles for the sides.
Sorry, but there is no reason to believe that aliens would come clear across the universe to help us stack rocks (and nothing else) for 1,000 years.
Furthermore, if you have anything that you think can't be explained in the Great Pyramids, let's hear it. Let me help you out with a couple.
How did they get it so closely aligned with north? If you are in ancient Egypt, then there are no street lights so when the sun goes down all you have to look at is the stars. Furthermore, the position of the stars governs when you plant your crops so you can eat. Therefore, the Egyptians were quite familiar with the stars.
Once you know they were familiar with the stars then all it takes is two people who are familiar with the North Star and have two sticks. One guy plants his stick in the ground and the other guy walks out 100 yards or so and aligns his with the North Star. Strangely enough, the bigger the thing you are building, the more accurate that technique gets.
Or how about making them so perfectly level? Simple. Dig a big pit, fill it with water, and then put sticks in the water. Go around and mark all the sticks at the water level. Drain the water (or simply let it dry up) and then fill with dirt up to the marks on the sticks. Again, the bigger the monument, the more accurate it gets.
That ancient aliens stuff will only fool those who want to be fooled.
"We know this, because the knowledge and tools have not been found or repeated, i.e. the Great Pyramids."
I like this argument. How do we know that aliens did it? Because they left absolutely no trace that they did it.
They were here for 1,000 years, apparently interacting with all sorts of societies, but never left a single worn-out alien shoe.
Oh wait, there was that Baghdad battery they left. Proof positive that they used those things for powering their spaceships. Apparently, they discovered how to get around the theory of relativity before they figured out things like ordinary flashlight batteries.
slimchance,
I'd like to start by saying I'm actually symapthetic towards your views, though I'd like to shift their focus just a little. First off, as much disdain as I have for much of religion, having specialized in religious studies as a minor at University, I can say I hold a profound respect for the faculty. You're absolutely right that, the vast majority of them, are respectable scientists willing to change their worldview as they acquire new evidence.
Unfortunately, it's the folks in the pews who don't show the same versatility.
As for religion and science being the same thing, they're not. When researchers study ancient religious scrolls and so on, they're not acting as members of the faith, but as scientists.
Religion literally prescribes a particular worldview - god exists, and must exist. Religion is simply unwilling to accept any alternative opinion.
Here's an example: if a religious person should accept evidence that god does not exist, they will cease to be religious; but if a scientist accepts evidence in the existence of god, they will still be a scientist.
That's the difference.
That said, you're right about the folks here toting the "obvious" evidence for the existence of aliens directly involved in the affairs of humans (but also leave no trace.. starting to sound like another entity, now..). The fact is, though, they do not represent the scientific community.
They're the Deepak Chopra's of the world, who have no claim to any of their statements, and act far outside the spectrum of true science.
The most any respectable scientist will say about the existence of life outside our planet is that the probability for them existing is quite high, but the likelihood of them having visited us is extremely low.
And even if it does exist, it's probably simple life; we have no idea how rare or common self-conscious intelligence is out there, even if life itself is common. And again, we have no proof that life is common, only that the conditions we believe can allow life *may* be common.
wm97ab,
I thought I was wordy, but you put me to shame! That said; nice, informative posts. Kudos.