Titanic structures in the middle of the Chinese desert. What are they?

[drokhole]

Why Is China Building These Gigantic Structures In the Middle of the Desert?
source: Gizmodo

This is crazy. New photos have appeared in Google Maps showing unidentified titanic structures in the middle of the Chinese desert. The first one is an intricate network of what appears to be huge metallic stripes. Is this a military experiment?

Update 2: readers are finding even more weird stuff.

They seem to be wide lines drawn with some white material. Or maybe the dust have been dug by machinery.

It's located in Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Gansu, north of the Shule River, which crosses the Tibetan Plateau to the west into the Kumtag Desert. It covers an area approximately one mile long by more than 3,000 feet wide.

The tracks are perfectly executed, and they seem to be designed to be seen from orbit.

(more at link: http://gizmodo.com/5859081/why-is-china-building-these-gigantic-structures-in-the-middle-of-the-desert)

Here are some of the pics:













(edit to add: click on pics at link for larger view, especially of this one:


Thousand of lines intersecting in a titanic grid that is about 18 miles long are more visible)

[theophilus]

1. Possibly solar collectors? The Chinese are serious about solar, it seems. n/t

[Merlot]

2. Desert Crop Circles?

Landing strips for space ships?

[Poll_Blind]

3. It was suggested some of these are calibration images for spy satellites.

That sounds about right for a few of them, anyway.

PB

[drokhole]

5. Yeah, that and energy collection (wind/solar?) seem likely for some...

...I can't even fathom looking across that 18 mile long structure, that's MASSIVE.

[redgiant]

12. I wouldn't think so

There are any number of existing structures within China whose exact position and dimensions are known that could be use for "calibration" purposes. That's just my initial impression.

[FSogol]

4. It is the work of the Chinese Christo.

:shrug:

[drokhole]

6. Or maybe Ancient Chinese secret?

:7

[Poll_Blind]

8. Ancient Chinese Secret, huh?

PB

[drokhole]

10. Ha! Well played.

[zappaman]

11. LOL! Memories.... n/t

[jberryhill]

7. Burning Man Is Outsourcing

[Motown_Johnny]

9. Nazca lines 2.0

[friendly_iconoclast]

13. Straight out of Bruce Sterling's story "Taklamakan"

http://lib.ru/STERLINGB/taklamakan.txt

[drokhole]

14. kick...

...for morning crowd

[sakabatou]

15. I don't know, therefore aliens

[Ezlivin]

16. Tracks from Chinese firedrills?

N/T

[dipsydoodle]

17. Google map mystery of giant lines spotted by satellite in Gobi desert

A Google Maps satellite has spotted a series of bizarre structures during a sweep of the Gobi desert in China.



The internet is buzzing with theories about what their purpose is, with suggestions ranging from giant QR readers to practise targets for military satellites.

To add to the intrigue, they are located on the borders of Gansu province and Xinjiang in northwestern China - an area that the superpower uses to build military, space and nuclear equipment.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2061424/Google-Maps-satellite-spots-bizarre-structures-Chinese-desert.html#ixzz1dmhV2LLs

[HopeHoops]

18. The one on the right looks like a giant airport with taxi lanes and multiple runways.

But the terrain seems a bit on the uneven side for that. And aren't there major fault lines in that area?

[Enrique]

19. it's odd how the patterns are unaffected by the terrain

I assume those feathery things are rivers and streams. I don't understand this picture at all.

[Kennah]

28. Like it was painted on the ground

[NYC_SKP]

20. Wow, I'm going to have to follow up on this.

It seems hoax-like, yet.....

[greyl]

21. Better article:

http://slumz.boxden.com/f605/nov-14-google-map-mystery-giant-lines-spotted-satellite-gobi-desert-1650631/

Earlier DU thread:
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2309148

[dipsydoodle]

23. I hadn't realised this was a duplicate

and have asked for this to be combined with the earlier post.

:hi:

[nebenaube]

22. Here's what I think...

China doesn't want that area viewed and google complied and superimposed obstacles to interpretation.

[tabatha]

24. How can they suddenly appear?

They cover a large area, and would take a few days if not weeks to create.

[Swede]

25. Is mystery.

[DainBramaged]

26. JESUS this is going to affect my life........................

not.

[MilesColtrane]

27. missile installation?

[redqueen]

29. ...

http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/chinas-mysterious-desert-lines-mystery-solved-20111115/