Sailing Stones

The mysterious moving stones of the packed-mud desert of Death Valley have been a center of scientific controversy for decades.




Rocks weighing up to hundreds of pounds

have been known to move up to hundreds of yards at a time.



Some scientists have proposed

that a combination of strong winds and surface ice account for these movements.



However, this theory does not explain evidence of

different rocks starting side by side

and moving at different rates and in disparate directions.



Moreover, the physics calculations do not fully support this theory

as wind speeds of hundreds of miles per hour

would be needed to move some of the stones.