If you watch the news nowadays, it feels like the world is going to hell in a handbasket. There are terrorist attacks, ebola outbreaks, people threatening to kill their pets on Craigslist, and women Lorena Bobbit-ing their husbands not once, but twice!
It all just makes you want to stock up the old Cold War-era bunker and hunker underground eating Twinkies and creamed corn until mankind finds their humanity once again.
But sometimes a beautiful flower can rise from the wreckage, like a phoenix from the ashes, and remind you that we humans can be very kind and strong creatures.
For instance, there is an elusive symbol in the middle of the Sahara Desert. If you plug the right coordinates into Google Earth, it can easily be seen not only from space, but from your own computer or tablet.
Its origins and meaning are both haunting and heartfelt…
Here is what you can see from space using Google Earth. It stands out like a sore thumb in the middle of the pristine and barren Sahara Desert.
If you zoom in slightly, you can better see what looks like a plane inside of a compass…
When you see it in person, with your feet in the sands of the Sahara, you notice something new.
The needle of the compass is a sharp structure that shoots up from the sand.
That needle is actually the wing of a plane, and how it got there is a fascinating tale…
On September 19, 1989, Flight 772 — flown by the French airline UTA — was scheduled to leave Brazzaville, Congo and land in Paris, France, with a planned stop in N'Djamena, Chad.
The plane exploded 46 minutes after taking off from N'Djamena International Airport.
The plane blew up while soaring over the Sahara Desert, killing all of the 170 people onboard.
An investigation revealed that a bomb placed in a suitcase stored within the forward cargo hold caused the tragic explosion.
Six Libyans were eventually tried and convicted in a Paris court for the crime. Their motives were unclear.
In 2007, 18 years later, Les Familles de l’Attentat du DC-10 d’UTA, an association of the victims’ families, used compensation funds to build a memorial.
Local inhabitants also helped out.
The memorial, which was built mostly by hand, includes a 200-foot circle created with dark stones.
Because the spot where the plane crashed is so sparse, the stones had to be trucked in.
The memorial was built over two months.
Heartbreaking details were added to the memorial.
For instance, 170 broken mirrors, which represent each victim from Flight 772.
Another intimate detail is the actual wing of the plane.
Workers had to dig up the wing and empty it of sand.
A commemorative plaque listing each of the victims' names was placed on the wing.
The monument was funded in part by the $170 million compensation package that the Libyan government provided.
Its presence reminds us of the many facets of human nature, and that kindness always prevails over cruelty.
Please SHARE this beautiful story with everyone you know so that more people are aware that vicious act does not always destroy our spirit.
