The Baigong Pipes are a series of pipe-like features found on and near Mount Baigong, about 40 km southwest of the city of Delingha, in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China.
Local legend speculates that Mt. Baigong in the Qinghai Province of China is an ancient alien laboratory. Aside from the mysterious pyramid that crowns the mountain, three triangular entrances at the mountain’s base lead the way to hundreds of decrepit metal pipe-like structures of unknown origin.
The Baigong Pipes are said to be a series of manufactured metal pipes buried in the ancient rock cave. They are often considered to be an example of an “out of place artifact” (or OOPA) which is sometimes claimed as proof of ancient alien visitation.
Local legend speculates that Mt. Baigong in the Qinghai Province of China is an ancient alien laboratory. Aside from the mysterious pyramid that crowns the mountain, three triangular entrances at the mountain’s base lead the way to hundreds of decrepit metal pipe-like structures of unknown origin.
The Baigong Pipes are said to be a series of manufactured metal pipes buried in the ancient rock cave. They are often considered to be an example of an “out of place artifact” (or OOPA) which is sometimes claimed as proof of ancient alien visitation.
Only discovered in 2002 the pipes are real mystery.
Locals, residing forty kilometers southeast of Qinghai’s Delingha city, have known of the pipes for centuries. They credit aliens for their construction, and even have legends of extraterrestrial visitors to Mt. Baigong. Although the stories are met with predictable skepticism, they become harder to laugh off when one takes in the sixty-meter pyramid near the mountain’s summit. Superficially, the pyramid could be shrugged off as having been shaped by natural forces. For some reason, however, the structure has not been conclusively studied, at least officially.
Near the foot of Mt. Baigong lie three caves, the largest and most accessible some eight meters high by six meters deep. Inside, spanning from the roof to the back end of the cave, runs a pipe 40 cm in diameter. Another one roughly the same size runs into the earth from the floor, with just the top protruding.
Locals, residing forty kilometers southeast of Qinghai’s Delingha city, have known of the pipes for centuries. They credit aliens for their construction, and even have legends of extraterrestrial visitors to Mt. Baigong. Although the stories are met with predictable skepticism, they become harder to laugh off when one takes in the sixty-meter pyramid near the mountain’s summit. Superficially, the pyramid could be shrugged off as having been shaped by natural forces. For some reason, however, the structure has not been conclusively studied, at least officially.
Near the foot of Mt. Baigong lie three caves, the largest and most accessible some eight meters high by six meters deep. Inside, spanning from the roof to the back end of the cave, runs a pipe 40 cm in diameter. Another one roughly the same size runs into the earth from the floor, with just the top protruding.
The rusty tubes, ranging from needle-size to 16 inches in diameter, reach from deep inside the mountain to a saltwater lake 260 feet away. Many of the hollow pipes are uniform in size and seem to be placed purposefully. The ancient objects are embedded deep enough into the mountain wall and floor to preclude modern human handling. The inhospitable environment surrounding the mountain sees only the occasional nomad. Unless these wanderers developed secret advanced metallurgy skills, the pipes were not formed by human hands.
The pipes, according to tests carried out at a local smeltery, are made chiefly of iron, but with an unusual thirty percent silicon dioxide in their matrix. They are also centuries old, if Xinhua and its source, Liu Shaolin, the engineer who carried out preliminary tests, are to be believed. It’s strange, but can easily be written off as a bizarre metallurgical operation by some nomads with too much time on their hands. That is if you choose not to believe the geological origins of the eerily symmetrical pyramid.
The pipes, according to tests carried out at a local smeltery, are made chiefly of iron, but with an unusual thirty percent silicon dioxide in their matrix. They are also centuries old, if Xinhua and its source, Liu Shaolin, the engineer who carried out preliminary tests, are to be believed. It’s strange, but can easily be written off as a bizarre metallurgical operation by some nomads with too much time on their hands. That is if you choose not to believe the geological origins of the eerily symmetrical pyramid.
The first scientists to examine the subterranean phenomenon concluded that the pipes were composed of 92% common minerals and metals and 8% unknown materials. The obvious inference is that these red-hued tubes were transported here from outer space as part of an alien public works project. This Martian theory has garnered so much support that a monument topped off with a corroded satellite dish has been erected near the mountain.
The most recent researchers to examine the pipes believe that the metallic phenomena are in fact fossilized tree root casts, the rusted tubes being the result of tree roots that underwent the processes of pedogenesis (the process that forms soils) and diagenesis (transformation of soil into rock). Further experiments confirmed that the pipes contain organic plant material and even microscopic tree rings. Overflow from an extinct lake once carried these roots to where they stand now.
The most recent researchers to examine the pipes believe that the metallic phenomena are in fact fossilized tree root casts, the rusted tubes being the result of tree roots that underwent the processes of pedogenesis (the process that forms soils) and diagenesis (transformation of soil into rock). Further experiments confirmed that the pipes contain organic plant material and even microscopic tree rings. Overflow from an extinct lake once carried these roots to where they stand now.
So while they aren't part of an alien sewer system, the pipes are evidence of the Earth’s ability to create strange and remarkable objects.
However, dozens of pipe openings have been discovered in the mountains far above the caves. Now these nomads must be credited with some advanced system of drilling since forgotten, as there is no modern industry in the area nor record of such. Not far from the foot of Baigong sits Toson Lake, on whose beach run many more iron pipes in unlikely patterns and in a variety of diameters, toothpick-sized at the thinnest. More pipes are in the lake, some protruding above the water surface, others buried beneath the lake’s bed.
Although nine Chinese scientists were reportedly dispatched to make a detailed analysis of the pipes in 2002, there has been no further information.
Source One: http://coolinterestingstuff.com/baigong-pipes-mystery
Source Two: http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/baigong-pipes
However, dozens of pipe openings have been discovered in the mountains far above the caves. Now these nomads must be credited with some advanced system of drilling since forgotten, as there is no modern industry in the area nor record of such. Not far from the foot of Baigong sits Toson Lake, on whose beach run many more iron pipes in unlikely patterns and in a variety of diameters, toothpick-sized at the thinnest. More pipes are in the lake, some protruding above the water surface, others buried beneath the lake’s bed.
Although nine Chinese scientists were reportedly dispatched to make a detailed analysis of the pipes in 2002, there has been no further information.
Source One: http://coolinterestingstuff.com/baigong-pipes-mystery
Source Two: http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/baigong-pipes