The Easter Island Moai: Walking Giants or Alien Relics?
The Easter Island Moai: Walking Giants or Alien Relics? Easter Island, known as Rapa Nui by its natives, is one of the most isolated places on Earth. Despite its remote location in the Pacific Ocean, it is home to nearly 1,000 massive stone statues known as the moai. These colossal figures have captivated researchers, archaeologists, and conspiracy theorists for centuries, sparking debates over how they were constructed, transported, and why they were eventually abandoned. Were the moai simply a remarkable feat of ancient engineering, or could they be evidence of something more mysterious? What Are the Moai? The moai are monolithic stone figures carved by the Rapa Nui people between approximately 1100 and 1600 AD. They range in height from 3 to 10 meters (10–33 feet), with some unfinished statues reaching even greater sizes. The tallest completed moai, known as Paro, stands at about 10 meters and weighs an estimated 82 tons. Most moai were sculpted from volcanic tuff, a relativel...