The story of the "mysterious pipes of Mount Baigong" is one of the unsolved mysteries of the last decade. An incredible find, made by a group of enthusiasts in China, wanders the news pages, but has not yet been seriously studied by science. Because of this, versions about the origin of strange objects appear one after another and seem to compete in improbability.
"Ancient aqueduct", "device for draining the lake" and even "launch pad for alien spaceships" - everyone chooses what he likes best. And for the most enterprising residents of the surrounding settlements, the mysterious pipes of Baigong are just an attraction for tourists, on the accompaniment of which you can make good money.
The secret of the three caves
For the first time, the general public learned about the pipes of Mount Baigong relatively recently, in June 2002. Then a report appeared in one of the Chinese newspapers, telling that a find had been made in Qinghai Province (Central China), allegedly calling into question the entire human history.
As it turned out later, the find was made a little earlier, but no one paid attention to it for some time. A group of American scientists was engaged in the search for dinosaur remains in the area of Mount Baigong. And suddenly I came across several caves in which there was a strange object that attracted their attention.
They were two pipes, as if made of rusty iron. Both were about 40 centimeters in diameter. One at the same time went into the cave, passing from the top of the mountain. The second one came from the bottom of the cave somewhere below. All this gave the impression of the remains of some ancient system or mechanism. Of the three caves found by the Baigong researchers, two turned out to be collapsed, so it is not yet known what is hidden in them.
The found pipes are located in the third, largest cave, which, however, is also not very large: 2 meters wide, 6 meters deep. Later, about 12 (and according to other sources, even several dozen) other pipes, with a diameter of 2 to 4.5 centimeters, were discovered around it. According to eyewitnesses, they are intertwined in a complex system, which indicates an extremely high level of technology among their creators.
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Lake Toson is located 80 meters from Mount Baigong. On its bank, closest to the mountain, many pipes were also found, similar to those in the cave. Their diameter varies from a few centimeters to a couple of millimeters (the smallest is not thicker than a toothpick). They find pipes allegedly in the lake itself - both at the bottom and sticking out on the surface.
The legacy of unknown times
Mount Baigong is located in a rather uninhabited area. And deserted not only by Chinese standards. From the nearest town of Delingha, with a population of 100 thousand people, it is separated by 40 kilometers. Because nothing is surprising
There is no significant fact that the mysterious pipes remained hidden from the eyes of people for a long time. However, they continue to receive little attention after their discovery. Until now, not a single truly scientific study of the mysterious phenomenon has been carried out. About Baigong pipes are not written in scientific journals, and the main source of information remains the media, mainly reprint each other. This, of course, gives scope to the authors of the most incredible assumptions.
Some are convinced that the pipes are the remains of an ancient aqueduct. From somewhere rumors came that a pyramid with a height of about 50-60 meters was once located on the top of Mount Baigong. On one of its faces there were three triangular shafts, as well as several wells that go down to the foot of the mountain. The pyramid supposedly housed some kind of complex mechanism, to which water from Lake Toson was supplied through a complex system of pipes. However, if we assume that this is so, then who built this strange object and what was its purpose?
The version that this engineering miracle was built by the ancient Chinese disappears immediately. The inhabitants of the Celestial Empire are the authors of many inventions, and one of them is the bureaucracy. It is simply impossible to imagine that such a large-scale and, without exaggeration, a great construction project was reflected in any ancient Chinese source. After any large construction site, documents would inevitably be preserved. And the emperor, during whose reign this happened, would have made sure that his great deed was not forgotten by his descendants.
Maybe the building was secret? Who knows if one of the ancient rulers set up some experiments there? Maybe he was trying to get the "pills of immortality" that the Chinese have dreamed of since ancient times, or was he preparing a superweapon to defeat enemies?
Even so, it is not clear why only a few pipes have survived from such a grandiose project - and no traces of mechanisms, instruments or laboratories. And the ancient Chinese did not know how to make such iron pipes.
Supporters of absolutely fantastic versions declared the Baigong pipes to be traces of a landing site for alien spaceships. True, they have not yet decided what exactly the pipes were used for - to pump either water or air. It is clear that it is impossible to prove such an assumption. As there is still no even approximate dating - when these artifacts were created.
Radioactive roots
In order to seriously talk about who created the pipes of Mount Baigong, a detailed chemical analysis of the material from which they are made is required. So far, one of the few who has done this is the Chinese scientist Liu Shaolin.
However, he told only journalists about the results of his research, but he has not yet shared them with his fellow scientists. According to Liu Shaolin, the pipes are mainly composed of iron, calcium and silicon oxides. Interestingly, approximately 8% of the composition was considered by the Chinese to be "not identifiable."
Based on the data of Liu Shaolin, the Baigong pipes are most likely quite ordinary, although original in the form of calcite formation. Most likely, these are the so-called pseudomorphoses. They are obtained when a mineral gradually replaces the form of an organic object (for example, a clam shell).
This is how the petrification process takes place, thanks to which we know the appearance of many of the ancient inhabitants of the Earth. In this case, to all appearances, calcite replaced not the remains of ancient organisms, but ordinary tree roots that sprouted through the thickness of the rock. Everyone who has ever been in the mountains knows that the old mighty trees are capable of this. And the largest “pipe” in diameter is most likely a petrified tree trunk.
These conclusions are supported by data obtained after studying the Baigong tubes with an atomic spectroscope in 2003. Chinese scientists have found there clear traces of organic matter and even visible annual rings. However, this does not mean that the issue of the pipes of Mount Baigong is completely closed.
In 2007, researchers at the China Earthquake Authority announced that, according to their data, some pipes are quite radioactive. What this can mean and how it can be so is another mystery. To which we may find out the answer in the future.
Pipes from America
Objects like the pipes of Mount Baigong are found in other parts of the world. But there they have long been studied and uniquely identified as geological formations. One such site is the famous "Navajo Sandstone" in the southern United States.
This rock, which every tourist in America dreams of seeing, is literally pierced by "pipes" with diameters from a fraction of a centimeter to half a meter. A quick glance at them clearly shows the "iron walls" of these pipes up to 2 centimeters thick.
In fact, this is just a play of nature. The Navajo Sandstone is extremely rich in iron. The decomposition of iron spar (siderite mineral) gives rise to such strange shapes that look like rings or pipes.
Cylindrical formations similar to the Baigong pipes can also be seen in the US state of Louisiana, on the east coast of the Mississippi. The cylinders, reaching a length of about a meter and 70 centimeters in diameter, are the roots of ancient pines replaced by iron ore.