Chinese mystery desert patterns sparks off online conspiracy debate

Beijing, Nov 15(ANI): A series of images captured by Google Maps showing mysterious patterns in a desert near the Chinese province of Xinjiang, have caught online conspiracy theorists off guard.

"Perhaps it's some kind of targeting or calibrating grid for Chinese spy satellites? Maybe it's a QR code for aliens? Nobody really knows," The Age quoted a technology website Gizmodo's statement, as saying."It looks like our own Area 51," London's Daily Telegraph newspaper quoted a Chinese website, Baidu user, as saying.

Conspiracy theorists have clamed for long that research into extraterrestrials is being conducted at the Nevada's military base, Area 51.

Some people, however, claimed the structures, some of which are located near China's space city could just be training sites for astronauts or practice grounds for the People's Liberation Army.

"The picture of the circle looks very like a missile test range, with target and instrumentation set out to record weapon effects. The Americans have lots of these in Nevada - Area 51," military magazine, Jane's Defence Weekly's Tim Ripley said.

New Scientist magazine's Paul Marks said viewers could figure some military planes by zooming on the images.

"One of the other formation ... looking tantalisingly like Stonehenge from a great height, zooming in reveals three aircraft sitting at its heart. Clearly, it is some kind of military target for airstrike or gunnery practice," he said.

"Another 4 x 4 piece grid some 200 metres across has some pieces clearly blown to smithereens, again supporting the target practice theory, and a dummy runway in garish bluish-white is probably not for style-conscious aliens but air-to-ground strafing practice," he added.

Google Maps may have been hacked and the images may be part of an elaborate hoax. They could be the "21st century version of crop circles", Marks further said.(ANI)