Nazca lines

Astornaut
Originally uploaded by matthewharrup.

This is an aerial view over the Nazca lines, mysterious huge lines drawn in the sand a thousand years ago (or more), not visible on the ground. No one knows why they were drawn, or why they resemble UFO landing strips so much.

This one is called the "Astronaut". He`s waving at something in the sky - welcoming the aliens maybe?

Conspiracy theories aside, the consensus is that these lines were part calendar (lines pointing to winter solstice sunrises etc), part ritual. Shamans of the area ingest hallucinogenic drugs that make them believe they`re flying, and that they can use the drawings on the ground as aids in their spirit battles. The entire region was paranoically fervant, as their entire life depended on rain coming down from the andes; if the rain and earth spirits weren`t pleased, the crops would fail. There`s been no significant rainfall in the Nazca desert since the lines were made.

This one is of the "Hummingbird". As we took the photo, there was a flash of light, the plane shook and everything went hazy for a moment. It all seemed fine afterwards.