A baffling phenomenon of nature or a paranormal[1] display of supernatural existence or is it an alien intervention? Questions still remain unanswered while experts are still nailing down on what could be the accurate reason behind stones of Death Valley that slide by themselves, without the interference of humans or animals.[2] In the southwest of the United States of America, lies this mysterious valley—popular as the hottest and driest location in North America. This lowest lying point of the continent is a deserted floor located in the Inyo Country by the border of California and Nevada, and consists of a dry lakebed named “Racetrack Playa[3]” which is proved to have the motion of rocks every two or three years.

What are Sailing Stones?

“Sailing Stones” of Death Valley—named from their distinctive and mysterious feature are in a count of hundreds scattered allover the Racetrack Playa from the size of a pebble to as large as huge boulders.[4] The playa which is nothing but a flat bed of scorched mud observes the sailing of such stones on its broken surface of flat octagons and pentagons.[5] While the stones having rough bottoms tend to form smooth straight tracks, stones with smoother bottom are found wandering in an unorganized pattern. Stones also tend to turn over during this process leading all the way to another track.

Like the size and shape of sailing stones, its component also varies all over the Racetrack Playa. In the southern end of the region, they’re found to be made of dark dolomite, while the stones from the adjacent slopes consist more of tan-colored igneous rock.[6] From as small as 10 feet to as long as 100 feet, the tracks formed by these sailing stones are usually 2.5 cms deep and 4-12 inches wide, consisting of silt and clay sediments and last usually for three to four years.

The Science of Sailing Stones

Even though this geological phenomenon is a mystery and still a subject under research, various speculations have been made on the exact reason behind the sailing of the stones.

Some researchers believe a combination of natural events cause these stones to “sail”. This area of Death Valley can get very frigid in the winter nights, causing a layer of ice to form on the baked smooth soil. The combination of the ice-coated ground and fierce winds, the rocks are gently pushed across the surface. The winds are indeed fierce, as they have been known to clock up[7] to 90 mph during the winter months.

Other researchers question this theory[8]. Some point the conditions have to be just right for these stones to move, perhaps occurring once every one to three years. They claim some other unknown factor is probably in play.

To add more to this strange phenomenon, these sailing stones don’t follow a specific path that could be predicted when ice and wind are present. Some stones that are physically near each other may start out sailing in a parallel direction, but then one would stop while the other one continues. Some have started sailing in a parallel direction, but then suddenly one would turn left or right and continue on in that direction. There are some stones that have reversed course while others have continued on in a straight path. To make matters even more complicated, some stones have completely turned over while continuing to sail across the dry lake bed.

There are also researchers believe that the movement of stones in the desert are under the influence of Milky Way, means our galaxy. The position of stars create a magnetic structure in such a way which make the stones to slide in valley, just like the tides in oceans which are sometimes influenced by the gravitation pull[9] of the moon.

Till date these mysterious stones and their movement remains un-filmed and unobserved by human eyes, but the various speculations made by experts keep us driving towards this mystical happening of nature, wondering how this could be possible.