I visited the place in the mid-sixties. We were walking thru the field of rocks...and, due to the glare from a low Western sun, couldn't distinguish the petroglyphs at all.
I sat down in the shadow of one rock and focused on the sunlit rock face opposite me. And, suddenly, the glyphs became clearly evident -- it was a matter of mentally separating the white lines from the cracks and stratification of the rocks.
And, on the rock face opposite, I was treated to the clear image of a Viking ship! In profile, with the high horsehead prow and the elevated stern, above a large rudder. A large square sail set amidship. A row of eight round "shields" mounted on the side, at the gunwales. Eight oars projecting from the side of the ship.
I called my wife's attention to the image...and she was equally shocked by what she was seeing. An accurate image of a Viking longboat...in the middle of the New Mexico desert, above the White Sands.
I ran off to alert the park ranger -- as there had been no mention of this particular image at the site's entrance or in the literature.
She, however, seemed unaware of the significance...and showed no interest in the image's location.
I've always wondered if anybody else has ever seen that image revealed by a low western light...
Park ranger wasn’t interested...
Kind of like tour bus guides that have to start their spiel all over again if you ask them a question:) Or it might be information they don’t want you to know.
Have you seen that program on TV America Unearthed? The show is led by a forensic geologist out of Minnesota. He is always looking for stuff like that. Look him up and let him know.
Couple weeks ago I was privileged to view a semi secret display of the largest collection of pictographs in Oregon. The analysis of the drawings was it was a local message board. Same red color as the ones in the article. I need to look up the recipe for that stuff. Still brilliant after all these years.