The Valley of the Moon That Crackles
In one of the driest places on Earth, a valley of salt and stone looks like the surface of the Moon. In the heat of the day, the rocks crackle and pop.
What was reported
The Valle de la Luna, near San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile, is a landscape of jagged ridges, dunes and salt-crusted rock, carved by wind and water over millions of years. Its bare, grey and white surfaces look so much like another world that NASA has tested Mars rovers in the Atacama.
Visitors sometimes hear strange crackling and popping sounds coming from the rocks, especially as the day warms up.
Explanations offered
The sounds come from salt crystals in the rock expanding and cracking as they heat up in the sun. The Atacama is so dry that some places have gone years without measurable rain, which preserves its alien landscape.
- When
- Shaped over millions of years
- Where
- Valle de la Luna, near San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
- Witnesses
- Visitors to the Atacama
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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