GOOGLE MAPS
GOOGLE MAPS: Death Valley has been spotted on the street view
The street view is a useful tool to unearth some of the worlds most bizarre and unexplained mysteries.
Besides from its practical mapping, Google users have taken to the internet to explore areas of the globe that would otherwise be unreachable.
Now Google Map users have spooted something very strange at Death Valley in Eastern California.
In the middle of the Racetrack Playa in the hot and dry desert, large boulders can be spotted in the middle of a wide open plane referred to as “the sailing stones of Death Valley.”
GOOGLE MAPS
DEATH VALLEY: The phenomenon was found in the California desert
The boulders appear to have been moved and scrapped by a heavy force, almost as if something has pushed them across the floor.
Over years visitors have been blaming the mystery on everything from magnetic fields to alien existence.
According to Slate.com, some of the stone trails measure 250m long and these rocks arent light, with some weighing 318kg.
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“It just takes on this incredible sense of mystery”
Alan Van Valkenburg
Death Valley is one of the hottest and driest places in the world, which is part of the reason it has been of scientific interest for many years.
While studying the spooky sliding rocks, scientists were drawing blanks as wind theory and other natural factors lacked scientific evidence.
Alan Van Valkenburg, a park ranger working in the area, said: “It's very quiet out there, and it's very open — and you tend to have the playa to yourself.
“And the longer you stay out there, it just takes on this incredible sense of mystery."
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Ralph Lorenz, a NASA scientist, was also intrigued by the strange phenomenon and the Death Valleys weather in comparison to other parts of the globe.
After much research, he discovered that winter, water and ice conditions cause the massive boulders to float above the ground.
This combined with wind movements cause the gigantic boulders to slide and scrape across the desert floor.
GETTY
FOUND: Water and ice conditions cause the massive boulders to float above the ground
Ralph said: "People always ask, 'What do you think causes them to move?' But if you try to explain, they don't always want to hear the answers.
"People like a mystery — they like an unanswered question."
Previous Google Maps users were also left baffled by the blazing “Door to Hell” in the Karakum Desert in central Asia.
It was given the name because of its fiery interior, which has been burning since 1971.
How can I visit Death Valley?
Death Valley is a desert located in Eastern California in the northern Mojave Desert bordering the Great Basin Desert.
The nearest airport is the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas or Los Angeles International Airport.
Brits can fly with Norwegian Airlines for as little as £185 from London Gatwick Airport.
Travellers can stay at The Inn or The Ranch at Death Valley.
You can visit Death Valley National Park website for more information on activites.
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