Australia is weird. Our animals? Weird. Don’t come over here and try to tell me the platypus is a normal looking dude, OK? He’s a cooked unit with his bill and fur and flippy feet. Or the kangaroo. What about the crocodile with his odd little muscly hands. This has literally nothing to do with what I’m about to tell you, I just really got on a roll there.
[jwplayer 7ITt9Ari]
My point is, when someone tells you a strange thing happened in Australia – particularly the Aussie outback – you don’t bat an eyelid. Nope, that seems about right. So when I was first told about the Marree Man, a mysterious figure drawn into the Earth way out in Woop Woop, South Australia – I was not surprised. But I was intrigued.
FYI – this yarn is just a prelude, a taster if you will, for our extremely cooked episode on the mystery man for All Aussie Mystery Hour – have a listen now on iTunes, Spotify, or below:
So basically the story of the Marree Man, or what we know, goes like this. He gets his name from the town he is nearest to – Marree, South Australia, a small town of just 150 residents that’s situated at the corner of two unsealed roads, the Birdsville Track and the Oodnadatta Track.
The geoglyph (a fancy name for what is basically “large artwork in dirt or rock or whatever”) was discovered in 1998 by a charter pilot, and was immediately shrouded in mystery – it’s huge (you can see it from space), but no one saw anyone working on it. Experts say it’s likely to be of an Indigenous man, but characteristics lend his image more to central Australian tribes like the Pitjantjatjara, when the two tribes who were actually embroiled in a Land Rights battle over the area at the time were the Dieri and Arabunna. But also, it looks a lot like this statue raised from the Adriatic Sea… in short, no one knows what the hell the Marree Man is meant to represent, nor who did it. Or WHEN, even.
FYI, the think is 2.7 kilometres tall, and the perimeter runs for a whopping 28 kilometres. And those lines are 35 metres wide, hence why you can see the thing from space. This wasn’t done in 0.2 seconds, you know what I mean?
There’s other weirdo facts surrounding the Marree Man too – mysterious faxes sent to local pubs and news outlets, anonymous faxes that have never been owned up to. Not to mention a bizarre glass jar with a SATELLITE PHOTO OF THE THING found just a month after the discovery of the artwork itself.
You can still see the Marree Man if you want – charter flights go over the big dude from the local pub, Marree Hotel, and will set you back around $280. Worth it, IMO.
Wanna know more, like the rumours about who maybe did it and why? Hahaha, you guys! You have to listen to me ramble on about it on the podcast, OK? Then come chat to us in the All Aussie Mystery Hour Facebook Group, FYI.
