Death Valley, located in Eastern California, is not only the lowest point in North America at 279 feet (85 meters) below sea level, but it's also the hottest and driest place on the continent, too. With its highest temperature recorded at 134°F in 1913, it's little wonder how this sweltering place got its name.
But Death Valley is home to more than heat and dust. It's also home to a mystery that's been baffling people for years.
On the northwestern side of the valley is a dry lake bed known as Racetrack Playa. It seems like a strange name for such a hot desolate place, but when you learn what happens here, it will all make sense.
Racetrack Playa, also known simply as the Racetrack, is home to a phenomenon known as the Sailing Stones, which are rocks of varying sizes that slide across the clay surface of the dried lake, leaving trails, all on their own.
There is no animal or human intervention, yet these stones, which can weigh up to hundreds of kilograms, slide along the ground as though being pushed by an invisible force.
So how is this possible? Well, as we know, the world is full of mysterious, otherworldly phenomena that actually have very earthly explanations, like the magical pillars of light that can form in the sky in winter.
But although there might be a worldly explanation, they still help make the world so much more amazing!
Check out the Sailing Stones below, and let us know what you think is happening in this strange corner of the world.
Racetrack Playa is a dried lake in the northwestern area of Death Valley, California.
Its surface is clay that is, most of the time, dry and cracked. This desolate area might not look like much, but it's home to one of the strangest phenomena on the planet.
Of course, if you like stargazing, this is the place for you!
This is a Sailing Stone, a slab of stone that seemingly moves all by itself across the floor of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley.
That trail behind it is the path it took as it scooted across the dried clay desert — all by itself.
As you can see, there are no other tracks or prints in the clay except for the one made by the stone. So what's going on here?
The Sailing Stones have been observed and recorded since the early 1900s, baffling miners and explorers for years.
The stones were too heavy to be moved by even strong wind, and like the one above, some of them seemed to abruptly switch directions.
It wouldn't be until 2014 that a Sailing Stone was actually recorded in motion, thanks to a GPS tracker placed atop the stone.
And it was then that the mystery of the Sailing Stones was solved.
While Death Valley is known for being hot and dry, there are times when it gets cold and wet.
In the winter, particularly at night, thin sheets of ice cover the Racetrack's clay surface. As they melt, they turn into a thin layer of water, and create a slippery layer between the rocks and the surface.
This rock has a GPS tracking unit in it; you can see it as the round object on top.
That means that thanks to even a light wind, the rocks can start moving because there's suddenly no friction.
Have you ever put a glass on a wet counter and watched it slide a few inches? It's the same idea here.
The layer of water lets the rock slide along, leaving a trail in the clay behind it.
Then the water evaporates, leaving only the rock in its new location and the mysterious trail behind it.
So even though this looks like something out of The X-Files, it's actually quite earthly! But when you consider that nothing but some melting ice and a little wind in the early morning is enough to create something this bizarre, it's all the more amazing!
SHARE this amazing natural phenomenon with your friends, and see what they have to say about this strange occurrence!
