Post by alienbeing on Jun 30, 2010 5:39:44 GMT 10
The Cookie-Cutter Phenomenon
weird one from the archives
Weird news report from 1984 near Grand Coulee Dam in Eastern Washington:
No one can figure out how, but a chunk of earth weighing tons was plucked out of a wheat field, as though someone used "a giant cookie cutter," and put down, right side up, 73 feet away. "All we know for sure is that this puzzle piece of earth is 73 feet away from the hole it came out of," said Greg W. Behrens, a geologist with the Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam.
Scientists now believe that the "Cookie Cutter Phenomenon" is caused by two seismic events intersecting, creating constructive interference, and ejecting out a small chunk of earth.
THE COOKIE-CUTTER PHENOMENON
article on the Washington state 1984 event:
Strange Happening - Scientists are baffled by big 'mystery hole'
No one can figure out how, but a chunk of earth weighing tons was plucked out of a wheat field, as though someone used "a giant cookie cutter," and put down, right side up, 73 feet away. "All we know for sure is that this puzzle piece of earth is 73 feet away from the hole it came out of," said Greg W. Behrens, a geologist with the Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam. The displaced slab, mostly soil held together by roots, is about 10 feet long and 7 feet wide. Its thickness varies from 2 feet at one end to about 18 inches at the other. The shape and thickness of the piece exactly match the hole that was left behind, just like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle, though it was rotated about 20 degrees. There are no marks to indicate machines were used, the Seattle Times reported Friday, and the land is fairly flat. "You'd think that, whatever the cause, the chunk would have traveled in a straight line," said Don Aubertin, director of mining for the Colville Indians, whose reservation is near the site. However, a scientist "found where pieces had dribbled from the chunk as it moved. The dribblings traced an arc from the hole to where the chunk was found." The site is on a farm in north-central Washington operated by Fred Timm and his sons. Two of the sons, Rick and Pete, discovered the displaced earth Oct. 18 while rounding up cattle in an area known as "haystack rocks," where huge boulders were left by a glacier that covered the area thousands of years ago. The Timms believe the chunk was moved sometime after mid-September, when they harvested wheat in that field. There was a small earthquake in the area during that one-month period, at 8:24 p.m. Oct. 9. It measured 3.0 on the Richter scale of ground movement, and its epicenter was about 20 miles southwest of the displaced earth. However, University of Washington scientists ruled out the possibility that the quake somehow could have moved the chunk. The work of a meteorite also has been ruled out. "There was no sign of impact," Aubertin said. "The hole was not a crater. It had vertical walls and a fairly flat bottom. It was almost as if it had been cut out with a giant cookie cutter." But even that couldn't have left such a hole, he added, because roots from plants in the piece that was moved still dangled from the walls of the hole, indicating they were torn apart rather than cut. Behrens wondered if bedrock could have focused the earthquake's seismic waves on the displaced chunk.Focusing can occur, said UW geologist Stephen Malone, but it could not provide enough energy.
naturalplane.blogspot.com/
weird one from the archives
Weird news report from 1984 near Grand Coulee Dam in Eastern Washington:
No one can figure out how, but a chunk of earth weighing tons was plucked out of a wheat field, as though someone used "a giant cookie cutter," and put down, right side up, 73 feet away. "All we know for sure is that this puzzle piece of earth is 73 feet away from the hole it came out of," said Greg W. Behrens, a geologist with the Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam.
Scientists now believe that the "Cookie Cutter Phenomenon" is caused by two seismic events intersecting, creating constructive interference, and ejecting out a small chunk of earth.
THE COOKIE-CUTTER PHENOMENON
article on the Washington state 1984 event:
Strange Happening - Scientists are baffled by big 'mystery hole'
No one can figure out how, but a chunk of earth weighing tons was plucked out of a wheat field, as though someone used "a giant cookie cutter," and put down, right side up, 73 feet away. "All we know for sure is that this puzzle piece of earth is 73 feet away from the hole it came out of," said Greg W. Behrens, a geologist with the Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam. The displaced slab, mostly soil held together by roots, is about 10 feet long and 7 feet wide. Its thickness varies from 2 feet at one end to about 18 inches at the other. The shape and thickness of the piece exactly match the hole that was left behind, just like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle, though it was rotated about 20 degrees. There are no marks to indicate machines were used, the Seattle Times reported Friday, and the land is fairly flat. "You'd think that, whatever the cause, the chunk would have traveled in a straight line," said Don Aubertin, director of mining for the Colville Indians, whose reservation is near the site. However, a scientist "found where pieces had dribbled from the chunk as it moved. The dribblings traced an arc from the hole to where the chunk was found." The site is on a farm in north-central Washington operated by Fred Timm and his sons. Two of the sons, Rick and Pete, discovered the displaced earth Oct. 18 while rounding up cattle in an area known as "haystack rocks," where huge boulders were left by a glacier that covered the area thousands of years ago. The Timms believe the chunk was moved sometime after mid-September, when they harvested wheat in that field. There was a small earthquake in the area during that one-month period, at 8:24 p.m. Oct. 9. It measured 3.0 on the Richter scale of ground movement, and its epicenter was about 20 miles southwest of the displaced earth. However, University of Washington scientists ruled out the possibility that the quake somehow could have moved the chunk. The work of a meteorite also has been ruled out. "There was no sign of impact," Aubertin said. "The hole was not a crater. It had vertical walls and a fairly flat bottom. It was almost as if it had been cut out with a giant cookie cutter." But even that couldn't have left such a hole, he added, because roots from plants in the piece that was moved still dangled from the walls of the hole, indicating they were torn apart rather than cut. Behrens wondered if bedrock could have focused the earthquake's seismic waves on the displaced chunk.Focusing can occur, said UW geologist Stephen Malone, but it could not provide enough energy.
naturalplane.blogspot.com/