Posted on 10/25/2003 10:36:15 PM PDT by SteveH
Unexplained tree-top boulders found in forest
By Judy Hess Staff writer
JHess@bcdemocrat.com
Something unnatural is going on in Yellowwood State Forest.
The mystery began a few years ago when a turkey hunter, scouting in a remote area of the 23,000-acre forest, discovered a large boulder in the top of an 80-foot-tall chestnut oak tree. What he saw wedged among its branches was a boulder about 4 feet wide and a foot thick.
The boulder was eventually dubbed Gobbler's Rock after the turkey hunter. It sits high on a south-facing slope overlooking a ravine near Tulip Tree Road in western Brown County and is thought to weigh at least 400 pounds.
After the initial sighting of Gobbler's Rock, hikers have found at least two more giant sandstone boulders sitting in the top limbs of two sycamores. One boulder is nearly 45 feet off the ground and both rocks appear to weigh about 200 pounds. The trees are 100 yards apart growing near the banks of Plum Creek in a seldom-visited part of Yellowwood State Forest, just southwest of Helmsburg.
Known to locals as URBs, or Unexplained Resting Boulders, officials can't explain how the boulders got wedged into the branches in the first place. The huge rocks couldn't grow upward with the trees because the saplings could not have withstood their weight. The boulders must have been placed high in the trees after their trunks were sturdy enough to support them.
Sandstone boulders are a part of the natural Yellowwood setting. They are scattered around the forest floor so the rocks could have originated near the trees.
But officials can't find any proof that this was caused by a natural event or that someone played a joke. A joke that would require heavy-duty moving equipment to get the boulders into the branches.
As theories abound from fraternity pranks, tornadoes, to high winds or floods, the strange phenomenon is now the focus of several UFO Web sites.
In fact, the rock-in-a-tree is highlighted at abduct.com, a UFO-related Web site.
The Web site posts a few comments from a UFO investigator about Gobbler's Rock and asks "did a UFO put a boulder in this tree?"
"If the rock was blown into the tree, why isn't there some sign of damage to the bark? It had to be gently rested in the branches, I would think, but by what?" the investigator asks.
Another UFO Web site ponders such questions like "could an examination of the trees reveal whether they had had damage at a young age? Can anyone think of a mechanism whereby the boulders were lifted as the trees grew?"
Mark Shields, a Yellowwood employee, says "Just about every theory has been shot down."
"If I had to guess, maybe a tornado," Mr. Shields said.
He stated it's unlikely that blasting at some nearby site would have blown the rock into its perch. The most logical answer, he said, is that a tornado picked the rock up and dropped it in the branches. Although he admits that theory's not very likely because of the way the boulder sits in the tree.
"The rocks sits right in the crown of the tree," Mr. Shields said.
If you'd like to try finding the huge boulders, you'll need a compass. The trees are a considerable distance from the nearest roadway.
Directions to
Gobbler's Rock:
To find Gobbler's Rock from the Yellowwood State Forest office, head north on Yellowwood Lake Road, then turn west on Lanam Ridge Road. From Lanam Ridge Road, turn left onto Indiana 45, and then quickly turn south on Tulip Tree Road. Follow this gravel road about two miles, and park in a small pull-off near the gate.
Using a compass, continue walking south about a half-mile, and look for a cleared, grassy area on the left. Look for an old logging path that leads east from the cleared area, and follow it east and south. Gobbler÷Õ Rock is high on a south-facing slope overlooking a ravine. (GPS coordinates: N39 12.204, W86 21.955)
Directions to
the sycamore tree rocks:
Travel north on Yellowwood Lake Road about three miles from the Yellowwood State Forest office. Turn east on Lanam Ridge Road. Follow the road about three miles, and turn west on Dollsberry Lane, about a mile south of Helmsburg. Follow the gravel road until it ends. Park in a small parking area on the south side of the roadway.
From this point, a compass is required because there is no marked trail or path, and underbrush in some areas is thick. Follow the old roadway west, and then southwest. South of the pond, which is on private property, travel southwest to Plum Creek, following the creek as it meanders west. The two sycamores holding the rocks are on the north creek bank, about a third of a mile west-southwest from the parking area. The trees are about 100 yards apart, but not visible from each other. (GPS coordinates: N39 14.986, W86 18.492, N39 14.984, W8618.560)
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That's assuming a rope to be heavy-duty-moving-equipment.
Don't forget the heavy-duty-moving-equipment pulley....
Does the turkey hunter gobble himself? Perhaps a hunter can tell me if they make "turkey call" doodads kind of like the "duck call" thingies? That, or the rock was named after the hunter's prey, not after the frekin hunter!
Sorry, I'm in a bad mood and feel like being nit picky.
No mystery here. At least not as to how the rocks got there. Who did it we might not know, but it is certain someone put them there.
Right, Doc?
http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/OddPics/Playa.html
Maybe it is a part of the tree that went inanimate. Reverse evolution.
It could happen.
If we start looking today, I am quite positive we will find transitional’s that are partly alive and partly un-alive. Evolution doesn't always seek out complexity like we have been predicting, just the survivability of rocks. I am making a scientific prediction that baring catastrophe this newly found inanimate tree will outlast a Bristle Cone Pine.
As smience journal, a pear-reviewed fruitful magazine, stated, "This would be different than petrified wood. We are currently convinced that this is a new form of evolution, the leap from life to non-life without the normal "dieing" process.
This is strong evidence that supports our worldwide scientifically excepted theory.
Excellent point. Ask a professional freight handler how much effort it would take to raise and place a 200 pound object into a tree. It's really not that difficult.
Of course that brings up the subject of people with too much time on their hands.
Rather, it is proof that this is the method used to build Stonehenge. I have always speculated that it took a really long time to construct this huge megalithic structure, particularly since it is sometimes difficult to predict the direction of tree growth coupled with inaccuracy in determining the size of rocks at full maturity.
But this evidence is encouraging!
Still working on pyramid construction methods, difficult in the absence of fast growing trees in the area.
But made from an agglomeration, poured like concrete???
Where's the romance in that? I would think that some scientist would have come up with that one long before this, if there was even a chance. Was that author even in Egypt?
Another theory....Water was used and the rocks were floated on it! The water was later removed.
Easy!
The rocks were obviously placed by Native Americans in a ceremonial offering to their deities.
Therefore, we should immediately cordon off the entire surrounding area as a historical sacred site, and limit access to the native peoples of the area who have been historically oppressed. Yes? Is this making any sense?
Of course, with acknowledgement of the sacred tribal area, condemnation of the property can be followed by empowerment of the tribal authorities to incorporate and more fully develop the area for tribal gaming. I think the area could support a resort complete with three to twenty casinos and associated satellite operations-- ski lifts, resort hotels, shopping malls, helicopter pads, horse trails, and (of course) bowling alleys. The income from these operations should be tax free and exceptions can be made to campaign finance laws to give the tribes more access to the dominant racist and oppressive political power structure. This is entirely appropriate toward restoring the pride and economic status of the oppressed Original Peoples of the region. A "buffer zone" will be added to protect the endangered species of the area, to be administered as a "World Heritage Site" under United Nations auspices.
An interactive nature gallery will inform visitors and schoolchildren of the cultural signifance of the artifacts in their native environment. The entrance fees, museum fees, and parking fees will go to the general fund, with the difference to be made up by donations and surtaxes on souveneirs, candy bars, and cigarettes sold within the World Heritage Site and buffer zone boundaries.
;-)
Ya certainly got the goods.<;^)
But ya gotta admit, studying the material itself shouldn't be that difficult to determine if it is natural stone or concrete (of some sort).
If this theory is corrrect, why wouldn't it be built similarly to Boulder Dam? (A single pour??)
I undersood also that the facing stone was bright limestone, some of which still exists.
Maybe we'll know someday.
I'm old and will reasearch this after death and let ya know.
Be patient.
Where's an Egyptian when ya need 'em.
I'm feeling the need for sleep too.
Really got up to pee. G'nite jeff.
Errmm... How much do you know about modern concrete? Modern concrete can be vastly superior to anything the ancients concocted, even by accident. We know more about that class of materials than any man should waste a lifetime on. The composition of Roman and Egyptian concrete is not a mystery and easily characterized. If I am not mistaken, archaeologists analyze and characterize concrete to determine its source (mostly by tracking the impurities and aggregate characteristics).
Concrete is un-special engineering, both the bog standard types and the exotic types. And the ancient concretes were not even exotic. The ancients were remarkably adept with basic concrete though considering their lack of significant materials science. Quite good for the times, but nothing special in modern times.
As I understand it, the science of modern concrete is barely 200 years old.
I do admit that I sometimes scare myself with how easily I can produce this drivel on demand. But no, I don't compete in the pro leagues... they are sooo much better...
;-)
The problem with this, at least insofar as modern materials science is concerned, is that geopolymers from common earth minerals (typically silica-alumina structures) require an autoclave at a minimum. These materials are formed naturally (the earth can provide the pressures and temperatures necessary), but they aren't something you can just slap together with bronze age technology. Alumina/silica polymers don't form under normal bronze age conditions. And if they had the technology to do this, they would have had a great many other things at their disposal that would put the premise in doubt.
We don't utilize geopolymers for structural purposes because it is entirely unnecessary. Normal reinforced/stressed concretes have all the strength and durability that anyone needs for most structural engineering purposes. Add to this that geopolymers are expensive to produce (due to the necessity of putting each piece in an autoclave), and you end up with no sane justification for using them in large structural projects. And this ignores that you can't use them for things that have to be cast "in place" for all intents and purposes.
We actually have materials that are better than geopolymers, but they are primarily used in places where it makes financial sense. For structural engineering purposes, there is no purpose in using them in place of steel reinforced concretes. It is quite possible to make basic concrete last damn near forever by tweaking the composition if necessary, though there rarely IS a necessity for this.
There are bulk stones in nature that can survive tens of millions of years of environmental exposure without a scratch. You can find small deposits of these unusual deposits which are billions of years old (usually ceramics in a metal matrix). Nobody quarries these because they will rapidly destroy even diamond edged cutting tools and are essentially uncuttable, making them economically unviable. But finding natural stone that will last a mere million years with only moderate decay is a trivial feat. Cutting up natural alumina/silica geopolymers is not terribly difficult, and makes for an Occam compliant explanation.
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