Up Above Down Under

Petra in Jordan's The Great Pyramid of Giza and Italy's Colosseum are so much a part of the fabric of history that it's almost impossible to imagine the world without them. We knowed almost nothing about the individuals who toiled away at their construction. All we have is the evidence of their work incredible achievements in human engineering. But there is

an equally amazing achievement that isn't often listed among other wonders. Yet, despite its relative obscurity, its existence has captivated archaeologists for generations, mainly because of how it got there. It's called nan Medol, meaning within the intervals, and it can be found over thirteen hundred miles northeast of Papua New Guinea, in the Pacific Ocean. Nan Medol is just off the eastern coast of pond Pei as part of the Federated States of Micronesia.

It is or was, a city that was built inside a lagoon and is comprised of nearly a hundred man made stone islets, all of which are connected by a series of canals. This unique composition has earned at the nickname the Venice of the Pacific. Each stone weighs on average about five tons. There are stones so big they can reach five times that amount, which is what has baffled experts for so long. How were people able to

build nan Medol at all. It's possible that the entirety of the island's population was required to move such large stones, but nobody knows for sure. Those who lived near nan Medol believe, however, that the original inhabitants had helped from two sorcerers, Mole Siapa and Olshapa brothers, who had come to the area in a big canoe. They'd wanted to build an altar to the god of agriculture where they

could worship. This altar eventually became nan Medol. They were able to move the stones into place, they said, with the help of a flying dragon. Despite the story, no food grows on nan Medol due to the lack of viable soil and fresh water. Instead, everything must be sailed in from the mainland. Another legend claims that the island

existed before people ever lived there. It suggests that the giant stones floated into place by themselves, as if they had been moved by spectral hands, hence nan Medol's other nickname, the city of ghosts. Unfortunately, there is no definitive proof of how the island came to be. There are no written historical records, only the stories told by one generation

to the next. Scientists believe the truth is far less paranormal, and that the stones were floated from Pompeii to na Medol on bamboo rafts, and searching for historical documents has proven difficult, as a local king once proclaimed that digging on ne Medol would be considered breaking the law, an offense punishable by death. In fact, this declaration has invited speculation about a curse upon the island for anyone who

dares disobey it. In nineteen o seven, a German governor named Victor Burgh decided to ignore the king's demand, Berg traveled to Na Mendol and ventured inside a tomb, one that had been said to be the resting place for the remains of several ancient giants. Hours later, after the sun had gone down, the island became a hotbed of spiritual turbulence. Lightning illuminated the sky, heavy rains drenched Burg as the sound of a conk shell blared in the distance.

The next day, he was found dead. A German doctor who examined Berg's body could not determine a cause of death, but the locals knew what had happened. Berg had insulted the gods and had paid for it with his life. The mystery surrounding nan Medole has not lessened over the years.

If anything, it has only grown, and the island has gone on to inspire musicians, television writers and authors as well, perhaps most notably, HP Lovecraft, creator of the Cthulhu Mythos, based the creature's home of Releia on nan Medol, specifically, the island's origin story. Nan Medole is the stuff of legends. We may never know how it really got here, but one thing is certain, it isn't going anywhere anytime soon, because those stones are really heavy. NASA has captured a

lot of strange and interesting things on camera. In the fall of two thousand and fourteen, they released a picture of the Sun with its most active regions highlighted. It happened to form an eerie visage of a jack O lantern. Two years later, the Spitzer space telescope caught a glimpse of too nebulae that bore an uncanny resemblance to the U. S. S Enterprise ships from the original Star Trek series and

it's follow up, the next generation. These phenomena can be explained as paradolia, also known as the tendency to see familiar objects or faces in inanimate things. But there was one subject photograph by NASA that defied explanation. It was massive, stretching over two miles long, and nobody knew how it

got there. It was first noticed by pilot Trek Smith, who had been flying over southern Australia in June of It was a geoglyph, a design made in the land that could be seen from a distance, and it depicted an Aboriginal man poised to throw a stick or a boomerang. The figure came to be known as the mari Man, named for the township of Marie where it was found. Australians flocked to see the Mari Man for themselves until the local government closed it down, but that didn't stop

planes from flying overhead to catch photos for themselves. A picture taken by Nassa's lands At five satellites in May of that year had showed nothing on the plateau, no man, not even a hint of an outline. A few weeks later, though, the satellite snapped another shot, and there it was the Mari Man, in all its glory, as if it had appeared out of thin air. After its discovery, anonymous press

releases were distributed to the Australian press. They contained phrases like your state of s A and Queensland Barrier reef, none of which were used by those who lived there. It appeared that the Mari Man had been made by outsiders, namely Americans. How do they know that it had been Americans behind the geoglyph because the releases also mentioned something

called the Great Serpent Mound. The Great Serpent Mound was at hundred foot long ancient Native American effigy in Ohio, but although it had been a rich cultural site for Ohioans. A few outside the US were even aware of its existence. From there, things only got stranger. In July, a glass

jar was found near the Mari Man. Inside was a satellite image of the site, as well as a United States flag and a note mentioning the Branch Davidian religious group, the same sect that had been involved in a deadly siege with the US government in Waco, Texas, five years earlier. Of course, those things could have been put there to

throw authorities off the trail of the real culprit. For a long time, theory swirled around a few individuals who were believed to have been responsible for making the Mari Man. Soldiers in the Australian Army were thought to have left it behind, as were American troops who had been stationed in the area, and honestly, for a long time, the

creator's identity wasn't important. The Mari Man had become a tourist destination, and for the next eighteen years it brought fame and business to the own During that time, the landscape of the outback changed as well, and the lines that had made up the figures outline began to fade. Despite being labeled as environmental vandalism by Australia's former environment minister.

Most people enjoyed having it around, so in two thousand and sixteen, the locals worked out a plan with the native Arabana people to restore it to its former glory. Precise GPS coordinates and satellite imagery were given to the operators of a construction grader, which replaced the original outline. To restore the Mari Man back to its former glory, a cash reward was offered to anyone who knew anything about the person who originally carved it, but no one

stepped forward to the people of Marie. However, that's not important. The Mari Man is part of the town. It's a fixture of the landscape, and the mystery behind its origin only adds to the charm of a very large man who comes from a land down under. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the

show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore which is a podcast, book series, and television show and you can learn all about it over at the world of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious, ye