These “sailing stones” are another great mystery of our time and a strange geological phenomenon. Found in a place called “Racetrack Playa” located in a lovely vacation spot known as Death Valley, near the western border of Arizona, the mysterious moving stones have been a center of scientific controversy for decades. An amazingly large number of stones in all shapes and sizes (some weighing up to half ton boulders) regularly travel by themselves, without human or animal intervention. So the big question is, just how do these mysterious stones move?

Sliding rock trails vary in direction and length. Some rocks which start next to each other start out travelling parallel, but one may abruptly change direction to the left, right, or even back the direction it came from. Length also varies because two similarly size and shaped rocks could travel uniform, then one could burst ahead or stop dead in its track. The furthest moved that was recorded in data is 880.73 miles. Leaving miles of zig-zagged, curved and straight tracks, these huge stones continue to baffle the scientific community. Even now, they are still investigating and trying to discover just how these rocks move. Currently, they are being tracked with GPS devices and satellite tracking.

There are many theories how these stones could possibly be moving, but a true answer has never been set in stone. 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.

Another theory suggests that the phenomenon is actually caused by yearly rains that coat the lakebed, consisting of only a few inches at best, but aided by additional runoff from the surrounding mountainside. This water freezes during the harsh winter season, causing sheets of ice to form around the stones and drag them across the playa. This theory sounds logical, but can easily be throw out due to the inconsistency of the tracks left behind the sailing stones as they wander off in other directions, sometimes even crisscrossing, instead of moving parallel like they would have to for this theory to be proven correct.