Forgotten Pyramids Seen From Space

For years fringe archaeologists have put forth the contention that advanced technology brought to Earth by aliens helped to build the pyramids of Egypt. So far no concrete evidence has emerged that space technology was involved in their construction, but based on data from a new satellite survey space technology has recently played a role in the discovery of as many as seventeen pyramids that up until now had been lost to history.

Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt. More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings.

Initial excavations have already confirmed some of the findings, including two suspected pyramids.

The work has been pioneered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham by US Egyptologist Dr Sarah Parcak.

She says she was amazed at how much she and her team has found.

"We were very intensely doing this research for over a year. I could see the data as it was emerging, but for me the "Aha!" moment was when I could step back and look at everything that we'd found and I couldn't believe we could locate so many sites all over Egypt.

"To excavate a pyramid is the dream of every archaeologist," she said.

The team analysed images from satellites orbiting 700km above the earth, equipped with cameras so powerful they can pin-point objects less than 1m in diameter on the earth's surface.

The survey was made possible by the construction techniques of the ancient Egyptians, who built their structures out of mud brick and stone. Since these materials are denser than the surrounding sand and soil they can be detected by infrared imaging, even from space. The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun was such a significant event in Egyptology because the tomb was essentially intact due to its obscure location in the Valley of the Kings. I'm looking forward to finding out whether or not any of these newly revealed pyramids might prove to be similarly undisturbed.