BEIJING, China -- A team of Chinese scientists is to head out to the far west of the country to investigate a mystery pyramid that local legend says is a launch tower left by aliens from space.

 

Nine scientists will travel this month to probe the origins of the 50-60 meter (165-198 ft) tall structure -- dubbed "the ET relics" -- in the western province of Qinghai, China's state-run Xinhua agency said on Wednesday.

 

The 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 lake, Xinhua said.

 

Rusty iron scraps, pipes and unusually shaped stones are scattered around the inhospitable and largely uninhabited area, it said.

 

ET theory

 

A research fellow at a nearby observatory of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Yang Ji, told Xinhua the theory the pyramid was created by extra terrestrials was "understandable and worth looking into."

 

"But scientific means must be employed to prove whether or not it is true," Yang said.

 

Xinhua has not given any details on the age of the structure, or any other possible explanations for it.

 

But a study carried out by a local smeltery suggests the pipes are very old, Liu Shaolin, the engineer who carried out the analysis, told Xinhua.

 

These findings have made the site more mysterious, says Qin Jianwen, a spokesman for the Delingha government.

 

"Nature is harsh here. There are no residents let alone modern industry in the area, only a few migrant herdsmen to the north of the mountain," Qin said.

 

This will be the first time scientists are heading out to study the mysterious site near Delingha City in the depths of the Qaidam Basin, according to sources with the Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

 

 

Mysterious Pipes

From English People Daily
english.peopledaily.com.cn

The widespread news of mysterious iron pipes at the foot of Mount Baigong, located in the depths of the Qaidam Basin, Qinghai Province of northwest China, has roused concern from related departments.

The widespread news of mysterious iron pipes at the foot of Mount Baigong, located in the depths of the Qaidam Basin, Qinghai Province, has roused concern from related departments.

Some experts believe that these might be relics left behind by extraterrestrial beings (ET), for the site, with its high altitude and thin, crisp air, has long been held as an ideal place to practice astronomy.

Three caves are found at the foot of Mount Baigong. Two of them have collapsed and are inaccessible. The middle one is the biggest, with its floor standing two meters above the ground and its top eight meters above the ground.

This cave is about six meters in depth, a little like a cave dug out by human beings, with pure sand and rock inside.

What is astonishing is inside for there is a half-pipe about 40 centimeters 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.

At the opening of the cave there are a dozen pipes at the diameter between 10 and 40 centimeters run into the mount straightly, showing high fixing technique.

About 80 meters away from the caves is the shimmering Toson Lake, on whose beach 40 meters away, many iron pipes can be found scattered on sands and rocks. They run in the east-west direction with a diameter between 2 and 4.5 centimeters. They are of various strange shapes and the thinnest is like a toothpick, but not blocked inside after years of sand movement.

More strange is that there are also some pipes in the lake, some reaching above water surface and some buried below, with similar shapes and thickness with those on the beach.