Gigantic Sri Yantra Carved in Dry Lake Bed of Oregon by UFO: Facts

Story:

Gigantic Sri Yantra, an ancient Hindu symbol was carved in dry lake bed of Oregon, USA by UFO.

Gigantic Sri Yantra Carved in Dry Lake Bed of Oregon by UFO

Analysis:

The message doing rounds on internet for several years claims to show a gigantic Sri Yantra (meaning sacred instrument, also called Sri Chakra), an ancient Hindu symbol that was carved in dry lakebed of Oregon, USA, by UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). Today, we will analyze whether there are any facts associated with the paranormal claims.

About Incident

On 10 August 1990, an Idaho Air National Guard pilot, Bill Miller discovered a huge, mysterious geoglyph inscribed into the dry lakebed in the Alvord Desert of Oregon, USA, while flying over it. The 13.3 mile glyph of lines was 10 inches wide and 3 inches deep and was identical in shape and proportion to the ancient Hindu meditation symbol Sri Yantra. The news was concealed from the public for about a month, before it got into the U.S. media on 12th September, 1990. Some reports said there were no signs of ‘human construction’ and that no pilots ever mentioned it before, also that planning such a project could have costed thousands of dollars. UFO researchers found no sign of human interference and suggested the giant Sri Yantra in remote Oregon desert is made by some aliens and UFOs.

Disclosure

About 40 days after the appearance of the Sri Chakra, a group of five people, headed by Iowa artist Bill Witherspoon, claimed that they had etched out the pictograph, over a period of 10 days. They said they have pulled a garden cultivator like a plow over the lakebed, and have used 12 miles of twine, survey stakes, a tape measure, a pair of binoculars and a blueprint of the formation to come up with the intricate design of the Sri Chakra geoglyph.

Conspiracy Talk

In November 1990, James Deardorff, a research professor emeritus at Oregon State University did not agree with the disclosure of group of Iowa artists. He alleged that it was a government sponsored ‘cover story,’ and was probably made by UFOs. Since then, many conspiracy websites like cropcircleconnector.com have been associating the Sri Chakra formation to paranormal UFOs, also mentioning a report of James Deardorff in UFO Magazine. Some sites till date say eastern Oregon was gifted with the Sri Yantra Mandala formation in August 1990. However, it is to be noted that James Deardorff retired from teaching four years before, and was looking into the “UFO phenomenon” full time.

Screenshot of related article on UFO Magazine website

Art Exaggerated

Over the years, the original account of the discovery of Sri Yantra (or Sri Chakra) in Oregon desert has been misinterpreted and exaggerated. Often reported as a 13 mile long crop circle (thirteen miles of lines in actuality), the Sri Yantra was actually spread across a quarter mile. The pictograph was first reported by Lt. Col. Bill Miller on 10 Aug. 1990, who later returned on Aug. 24 to photograph it from his RF-4C Phantom jet, said Capt. Michael Gollaher. He also said it was unlikely the design was built before the ‘middle of July’, because pilots would have spotted it. Note the misinterpretation that pilots did not see the geoglyph earlier — before it was created in late July.

Sgt. Charlie Swindell drove to the desert site and measured the Sri Yantra to be 1,563 feet square (around 173 square yard). He found many surveying stakes at corners driven deep in the ground, with nails and pink plastic ribbons on them. Notably, Michael Gollaher discarded the UFO claims with a statement, “No body is really saying this is a UFO-type thing, but there’s been lots of kidding around the base about people from Mars“. Leilani Davis, whose family runs the nearest Alvord Ranch from the site, expressed same opinion. Charlie Smith, a hand at the nearby Mann Lake Ranch, said he saw three men working in the desert one morning in late July — two pulling a small plow and a third walking along behind.

Artist Bill Witherspoon

Conspiracy theorists suggested that Bill Witherspoon and his group were not so good experts to come up with an art like Sri Chakra. However, Bill Witherspoon has written a paper titled “Art as Technology: Oregon Desert Sri Yantra” that was published in Leonardo (MIT Journal Press) in February 2005. In his paper are described some interesting results obtained by Bill during his experimentation with sacred geometries and more specifically the Sri Yantra. The Sri Yantra art of Oregon desert has reportedly brought about some positive changes in the local weather and environment. Bill Witherspoon is now a successful business man at the head of a company called the Sky Factory (founded in 2002), which creates realistic illusions of nature — virtual skylights and windows that transform interior spaces.

For the Sri Yantra art created at the remote Oregon desert land, note that, Bill and his group were even fined $100 by BLM (Bureau of Land Management) for defacing public land.

In short, a piece of art that the Sri Yantra at Oregon desert is, has been misinterpreted and exaggerated over the years for alien, UFO formation. So the messages and conspiracy theories saying the huge Sri Yantra geoglyph at Oregon desert is created by aliens & UFOs are hoax.