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What is the square object

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garywc

garywc

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What is the square object at 38°00'18.3"N 109°52'23.3"W?

Use Google Maps (use the Earth view - not the Map view).

The object is just off Ruin Park Rd, south of the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park in Utah, USA.

The object is comprised of many horizontal sheets of corrugated metal surrounded by a wooden fence.
 
The fenced area is atop a hill, on the side of that hill to the north are some ruins. The area has looked the same as far back as the satellite imagery goes, 1993. The dirt tracks/road running to the south and west are fresh, so someone is driving by it from time to time.

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Adobe Lightroom is my adult coloring book.
 
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24IS said:
It's where they keep pigs.

Robert Wyatt wrote a song about the place.

Pigs, in there?
Click to expand...
I had never heard of Robert Wyatt. He is a great musician and I'm stunned by his work.

Thank you for dragging this clip into an otherwise uninteresting discussion.
 
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Leonard Migliore said:
Thank you for dragging this clip into an otherwise uninteresting discussion.
Click to expand...
Aw, you've never looked around in Google Earth? You never know what you'll find.. The current imagery of Edwards Air Force base reveals a pair of shuttle booster rockets sitting out next to a Global Hawk military surveillance drone..
 
SoCalWill said:
The fenced area is atop a hill, on the side of that hill to the north are some ruins. The area has looked the same as far back as the satellite imagery goes, 1993. The dirt tracks/road running to the south and west are fresh, so someone is driving by it from time to time.
Click to expand...
 
Excavations?

Nuclear waste disposal site?

Those round holes at East look interesting. They are about deep as the trees are tall.
 
garywc said:
On August 7, 2016, NavTec (in Moab) took us on a backcountry trip past Newspaper Rock and Dugout Ranch, then south through Lavendar Canyon to the Salt Creek Canyon Overlook, through Beef Basin and Ruin Park, down Bobby's Hole, north into the grabens in the Needles District and up, over and down Elephant Hill back to Moab.

We did find a short wall of a Ancestral Puebloan granary (circa 1100) on the side of that hill to the north.
Click to expand...
I was going to note that it appears completely flat, and if you were in the area and don't recall seeing a building, that would seem to validate it. So it's a flat expanse of patchworked material, my guess would be metal since it's not affected by the environment; the only reason I can think of to lay out a big sheet of scrap metal would be to cover something. The vat-looking buildings off to the side would imply some sort of plumbing, so maybe an old well?
 
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garywc said:
The object is perfectly flat and measures at least 300 feet by 400 feet.
Click to expand...
It's almost exactly 200 by 260 feet (61 x 79 meters). The single elements are almost exactly 3 feet (0.92m) wide. Measured using Google Earth Pro (it's free nowadays).

How about those holes (d=35 feet or about 11m) to the East, inside the fence?
 
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pannumon said:
garywc said:
The object is perfectly flat and measures at least 300 feet by 400 feet.
Click to expand...
It's almost exactly 200 by 260 feet (61 x 79 meters). The single elements are almost exactly 3 feet (0.92m) wide. Measured using Google Earth Pro (it's free nowadays).

How about those holes (d=35 feet or about 11m) to the East, inside the fence?
Click to expand...
I downloaded Google Earth Pro but the only thing displayed is a black square. Nothing happens when I paste the object's coordinates in the Search box and press "Search".
 
Robert Wyatt? I've been a fan of his for many, many years. Never heard this track though.... cool!

24IS said:
It's where they keep pigs.

Robert Wyatt wrote a song about the place.

Pigs, in there?

Click to expand...
 
garywc said:
pannumon said:
garywc said:
The object is perfectly flat and measures at least 300 feet by 400 feet.
Click to expand...
It's almost exactly 200 by 260 feet (61 x 79 meters). The single elements are almost exactly 3 feet (0.92m) wide. Measured using Google Earth Pro (it's free nowadays).

How about those holes (d=35 feet or about 11m) to the East, inside the fence?
Click to expand...
I downloaded Google Earth Pro but the only thing displayed is a black square. Nothing happens when I paste the object's coordinates in the Search box and press "Search".
Click to expand...
It's free, but you need to login with your e-mail. The free licence key is "GEPFREE". Were you able to do this? The instructions are here:

https://support.google.com/earth/answer/176160?hl=en

The simple Ruler tool (under Tools-menu) is useful for measuring distances, areas etc. It is not available in the normal version.
 
garywc said:
Thanks, that worked!

Starting at the two round things (septic tanks? kivas? or ?) head 93 degrees for 577 feet and you'll see a square object.
Click to expand...
Your discovery got me interested so I did some searching and I found a lot of references to archaeological heritage sites near that area and that sites are being kept secret to avoid disturbances and destruction. Maybe you can get more information by contacting the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society and ask them.
 
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