Georgia Guide Stones

In June of 1979 a man going by R.C. Christian, which was not his real name, approached the Elberton Granite Finishing Company. The man seemed to have an endless amount of money and was there for an unknown group. The only thing known about them was from an inscription"Sponsors: A Small Group of Americans Who Seek The Age Of Reason”. They wanted a monument built in Elberton, Georgia.

By the terms of the legal contract, all plans and information were destroyed. The reason, the group and the man who constructed the monument that is known as the Georgia Guide Stones are unknown.

The monument was built in Elberton, Georgia on March 22, 1980. It seems to have advice for a post-apocalyptic world. It contains 10 guides, a clock, a calendar, and a clock. The messages are in eight different languages.

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature

It can serve as an astronomical calendar. Every day at noon the sun shines through a narrow hole that illuminates the day's date on the calendar. There are placks placed above time capsules, but the date and time it is to unburied are unwritten and unknown.

The philosophy of the monument may have been based on the book by Thomas Paine called the Age of Reason. It's a philosophy book based of Deism and questioning the legitimacy of Christianity and the Bible. This leads people to believe that the stone was erected for occult reasons. 

SOURCES:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/georgia-guidestones
http://www.radioliberty.com/stones.htm
https://www.zmescience.com/other/feature-post/georgia-guidestones-mysterious-instructions-for-the-post-apocalypse/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Reason

Who Built The Helix Staircase of Loretto Chapel?

When the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico has the main attraction. Many people go to churches to look at the paintings, statues, and structures. The thing most people come to see is the Helix Staircase that was built by a mysterious stranger. At first, it was a mystery of how the staircase stood, but now people know that it's because of the physics of the staircase.  Now the mystery still lies in who the kind stranger was and where did the spruce wood he used come from.

Here's a bit of history of the Chapel first.

The story of the Loretto Chapel began in 1850. Bishop Jean Baptiste Lamy saw a need to educate girls in the New Mexico Territory. Six Sisters were sent to start Loretto Academy for Girls. The sisters also had to learn Spanish as that was a language spoken in the territory. In 1853 when they arrived in Santa Fe the school was opened.

It wasn't until 20 years later in 1873 when they were able to start constructing the Chapel. The Chapel was inspired by French architecture, specifically of Sainte Chapelle in Paris. By 1878 the Architect of the structure had died before finishing the choir loft 22 feet high. Unfortunately, a staircase would have taken up too much floor space and the Chapel had no money to redo it.

It is said that the sisters did a nine-day novena to Saint Joseph the Saint of Carpenters for a miracle. On the final day their prayers were answered, a carpenter appeared. He arrived with a carpenters square and hammers, and he used wooden pegs instead of nails. His only rule for the job was that he was to do it in private. He had completed his job and left just as mysteriously as he arrived.

When the sisters saw the finished product they were shocked. The staircase has two 360 degree turns and has no center pole for support. It was exactly what they needed. It didn't take too much room and the choir loft was useful. later a railing was added so that it was easier to climb. The sisters searched to find out what kind of wood he used, but it turns out to not have been native to the area.

The Sisters were thankful for the stranger. Some believed that it was Saint Joseph himself or someone sent in by Saint Joseph. All that is known is that the Sisters prayers were answered.

SOURCES:
https://www.lorettochapel.com/info/staircase
https://www.lorettochapel.com/info/our-story
https://www.historicmysteries.com/loretto-chapel-staircase/
https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/mysterious-helix-staircase-loretto-chapel-001295

The Great Wall of California: Berkeley Mystery Walls

There is a wall that stretched 50 miles long in California. It stretches from Berkley to San Jose. It is made of rocks and boulders stacked upon each other, in some places and some of the boulders weigh a ton. Some places are five feet tall, but it at most isn't very tall. It had breaks in it that go on for meters to half a mile in some places. It even leads up or from a mysterious stone circle and the wall spirals for 200 feet and encircles a large boulder.

It's not known why the wall was originally built or who had built it or if it had served any real purpose at all. It wasn't tall enough for defensive purposes and sometimes the layout of the wall is inaccessible and unusual places. It could be possible that it has some sort of religious affiliation originally, but that is all lost now. 

Some theorize that maybe it wasn't Native American's who formed it. Some think that it could have been early missionaries who created it or even Mongolians who settled in the area may have created. In reality, we may never find out who created the wall and for what purposes, but it's a beautiful ancient site to see. 

SOURCES:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/berkeley-mystery-walls
https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/11/23/bay-area-facts-berkeley-mystery-walls-origins-not-so-off-the-wall/
http://www.ancientpages.com/2015/10/28/mystery-of-great-wall-of-california-an-ancient-unsolved-enigma/