# Alien Pyramid in Qinghai, China? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2002, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-pyramid-in-qinghai-china/116318 "2002-06-28T02:44:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skydive101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@Skydive101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skydive101)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-pyramid-in-qinghai-china/116318/1 "2002-06-28T02:44:56Z")
Apparently there is some alien tom-foolery going on atop Mount Baigong in the Qinghai province of China. šŸ˜• Click [here](http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/20/china.aliens/), [here](http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/06/25/china.aliens.reut/index.html) or [here](http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2002-06-20/74633.html) for the full story. Some quotes from the CNN articles; \*"Nine scientists will travel this month to probe the origins of the 50-60 meter (165-198 ft) tall structure ā€“ dubbed ā€œthe ET relicsā€ ā€œThe mystery pyramid sits on Mount Baigong, has three caves with triangular openings on its facade and is filled with red-hued pipes leading into the mountain and a nearby salt water lakeā€ ā€œRusty iron scraps, pipes and unusually shaped stones are scattered around the inhospitable and largely uninhabited area.ā€ ā€œA study carried out by a local smeltery suggests the pipes are very old, Liu Shaolin, the engineer who carried out the analysisā€\* Very interesting stuff. What are the odds that everything their study finds is inconclusive? One last quote from The China Daily website; \*"The area is high in altitude, with thin and transparent air. It is an ideal place to practise astronomy, Qin said. In fact, the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has a large radio telescope just 70 kilometres from the site." \* _adjusts tinfoil hat_ ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-pyramid-in-qinghai-china/116318/2 "2002-06-28T02:45:58Z")
So, umm whatā€™s your question? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-pyramid-in-qinghai-china/116318/3 "2002-06-28T03:28:55Z")
Iā€™m guessing that he wants it debunked. Well, the China Daily link (the third one) has more actual information than the CNN/Reuters links, which are mainly just speculation. And it says (preserved here in case they take the web page down): > [@](#): > > The so-called ET relics structure is located on the south bank of the salty lake. It looks like a pyramid and is between 50 to 60 metres high. > > At the front of the pyramid are three caves with triangular openings. The cave in the middle is the biggest, with its floor standing 2 metres above the ground and its top 8 metres above the ground. > > This cave is about 6 metres in depth and inside there is a half-pipe about 40 centimetres in diameter tilting from the top to the inner end of the cave. > > Another pipe of the same diameter goes into the earth with only its top visible above the ground. > > Above the cave are a dozen pipes of various diameters which run into the mountain. > > All the pipes are red brownish, the same colour as that of surrounding rocks. > > Scattered about the caves and on the bank of the salty lake are a large number of rusty scraps, pipes of various diameters and strangely shaped stones. Some of the pipes run into the lake. > > According to Qin Jianwen, head of the publicity department of the Delingha government, the scraps were once taken to a local smeltery for analysis. > > The result shows that they are made up of 30 per cent ferric oxide with a large amount of silicon dioxide and calcium oxide. IANA engineer, but this sounds like ā€œslagā€ to me, and a Google search for ā€œslag ferric oxide calcium oxide silicon dioxideā€ turned up Black Beauty[sup]R[/sup] Coal Slag Blasting Grit. [http://www.reade.com/Products/Abrasives/black\_beauty.html](http://www.reade.com/Products/Abrasives/black_beauty.html) > [@](#): > > A black boiler slag abrasive with the following advantages: low moisture content, high degree of etch for permanent bonding of coatings, readily used in standard equipment in commerce, inert, fast cutting due to sharp angular edges, hardness, more economical, longer lasting and leaves minimum dust > > Typical Chemical Properties: > Silicon Dioxide= 47.20%, Aluminum oxide= 21.39%, Titanium dioxide= 1.01%, Ferric Oxide= 19.23%, Calcium oxide= 6.80%, Magnesium Oxide= 1.47%, Potassium Oxide= 1.60% and Sodium Oxide= 0.62% Also, FWIW, those are components of fly ash. [http://www.nrac.wvu.edu/rm493-591/fall2000/students/wentz/](http://www.nrac.wvu.edu/rm493-591/fall2000/students/wentz/) > [@](#): > > The average constituent percentages for power plant fly ash produced by the electrical utility industry are as follows: > > Constituent Symbol Percent (%) > > Silicon DioxideSiO2 45.7 > Aluminum OxideAl2O3 26 > Ferric Oxide Fe2O3 17.1 > Calcium Oxide CaO 3.8 > Sulfur Trioxide SO3 2.6 > Potassium OxideK2O 1.5 > Titanium Oxide TiO2 1.2 > Magnesium OxideMgO 1.2 > Sodium Oxide Na2O 0.6 > Phosphorus PentoxideP2O5 0.3 > 100 The combination of rusty pipes leading down to a lake (for water cooling), coal slag, fly ash, and a ā€œtowerā€ sounds to me like a leftover and long-forgotten coal-burning power plant from, say, the 1920s, rather than a ā€œlaunch tower for aliensā€. The ā€œcavesā€ could simply be crumbling former office buildings, control rooms, etc. P.S. See the ā€œalien launch towerā€? šŸ˜ƒ [http://www.parcplace.org/images/SPARC/coal.jpg](http://www.parcplace.org/images/SPARC/coal.jpg) Look, hereā€™s another one! šŸ˜ƒ [![](http://www.industcards.com/shinonoda.jpg) ](http://www.industcards.com/shinonoda.jpg) (Alternatively, it might be an old mine of some kind.) > **[World Museum of Mining | Exhibits & Mine Tours in Butte, Montana](https://miningmuseum.org/)** > > With 50 exhibit buildings, countless artifacts, and 66 exhibits in the mine yard, spend the day getting lost in history at the Butte mining museum. Book now! And anyway, arenā€™t alien launch towers supposed to be made out of mysteriously indestructible metal? šŸ˜ƒ If this really is an alien launch tower, then their metallurgy is still hopelessly stuck in the 19th century. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-pyramid-in-qinghai-china/116318/4 "2002-06-28T03:51:12Z")
Hereā€™s last weeks take on this subject at the SDMB:  [mysterious places in china and Russia?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=121317&highlight=Qinghai) ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-pyramid-in-qinghai-china/116318/5 "2002-06-28T06:55:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*Iā€™m guessing that he wants it debunked. > > And anyway, arenā€™t alien launch towers supposed to be made out of mysteriously indestructible metal? šŸ˜ƒ If this really is an alien launch tower, then their metallurgy is still hopelessly stuck in the 19th century. šŸ˜ƒ \*\* Iā€™d be really dissapointed if these people couldnā€™t tell the difference between an old mine/oil refinery and something truely wierd. I wish they had provided a photo with the article so we could see if that was truely the case. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alien-pyramid-in-qinghai-china/116318/6 "2002-06-28T07:26:56Z")
The ideal place to practice astronomy. Sheesh, anywhere in Tibet is the ideal place to practice astronomy. High altitude, clear skies, minimal precipitation.