Coral Castle -- Evidence of Magic [Archive]

rocketdodger

8th June 2006, 10:45 PM

Ok the title of this thread is just to pull the fiery skeptics in, I admit.

I was just wondering if anybody has legitimate explanations regarding coral castle.

It seems to be a pretty big mystery to me, when you look at all the evidence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Castle

Gravy

8th June 2006, 10:48 PM

TheBoyPaj

8th June 2006, 11:09 PM

From the Coral Castle web site:
Since it is documented that no one ever witnessed Ed's labor in building his rock gate park, some say he had supernatural powers. Ed would only say that he knew the secrets used to build the ancient pyramids and if he could learn them, you could too!

Today, you can leisurely tour Coral Castle via our new 30 minute state of the art audio tour. Hear this fascinating story in English, Spanish, French or German, and see for yourself what millions saw on national TV's "That's Incredible", "In Search Of...", and "You Asked For It!" Even rock star Billy Idol wrote his hit song, "Sweet Sixteen" about Ed's lost love.

Now we wonder what exactly was the source of inspiration that drove this man for 28 years to carve a Coral Castle from the ground up using nothing but home made tools from junk parts. Unrequited love? Ancient sciences that defy gravity, or just sheer, raw human determination? The Coral Castle is an everlasting mystery to those who explore it.
http://www.coralcastle.com/home.asp

There's nothing supernatural about elbow grease.

Gravy

8th June 2006, 11:13 PM

I was hoping to hear from rocketdodger what he thought was mysterious in any way, but I'm guessing he just posted as a joke.

RandFan

8th June 2006, 11:46 PM

I was hoping to hear from rocketdodger what he thought was mysterious in any way, but I'm guessing he just posted as a joke.This was featured, IIRC, on that Leonerd Nimoy narrated show "In Search Of". The show made it seem as if much of what the guy did was not explainable. Something about the slabs of rock being too heavy for him to have moved. Sorry, I don't have much more than that.

Jas

9th June 2006, 01:04 AM

I don't understand.

Some guy built an ugly-ass building. Unfortunately, that doesn't require supernatural powers.

kookbreaker

9th June 2006, 03:53 AM

From the Coral Castle web site:

http://www.coralcastle.com/home.asp

There's nothing supernatural about elbow grease.

Indeed. Here there are pictures of him moving he coral:

http://www.coralcastle.com/pictures1.asp

I've seen this site before, and they previously had a picture with a Model T Ford on blocks that he used to help lift the blocks.

Ririon

9th June 2006, 04:13 AM

Indeed. Here there are pictures of him moving he coral:

http://www.coralcastle.com/pictures1.asp

I've seen this site before, and they previously had a picture with a Model T Ford on blocks that he used to help lift the blocks.
Clearly, it's a magic tripod, using ancient wisdom from Egypt and Greece. Duh. How do you think they built pyramids and temples in the old days? Quantum-harmony antigravity devices or A-frames, ropes and hard work? The mystery is how some people find the "hard work"-theory to be the least likely. May I suggest a few years of hard labour in a quarry as a fitting punishment for such disregard for Occam's razor?

MRC_Hans

9th June 2006, 04:46 AM

So it is documented (assuming, of course that the photo is authentic) that he used a tripod, block and tackle. Since that, and an unusual (some would say insane) determination, is all that is needed for one person to build such a structure over a time-span of 28 years, I see no reason to assume any mystery.

Hans

Spektator

9th June 2006, 04:51 AM

(snip)
I've seen this site before, and they previously had a picture with a Model T Ford on blocks that he used to help lift the blocks.

But the ramps! Where are the ramps? Whe-e-e-rrre ar-r-re the RA-A-A-AMPS?????

(It's Rodney's day off.)

Cypripedium

9th June 2006, 05:06 AM

To see a rational explanation of how the "mystery" of Coral Castle can be explained, go to "theforgottentechnology dot com". A retired carpenter who frequently had to move heavy items around construction sites by himself has some fascinating pictures and videos of what ONE man can do just by using his knowledge of how the world works.

A man I work with, a physics instructor no less, introduced me to Coral Castle with words to the effect of, "I don't know how he did it!". A little internet research led me to the above site, and when I showed it to the physics guy he bought the guys video on DVD and now shows it to his class to encourage their skepticism of supernatural claims. Made me feel pretty good, but the hero is really the retired carpenter!

gfunkusarelius

9th June 2006, 05:26 AM

MRC_Hans

9th June 2006, 06:04 AM

I have seen it before, but thanks for the reminder. This guy so totally undermines all the "heavy stones" woo. He shows that all you need to build massive stone structures with enourmous blocks is ropes, pulleys, moderate manpower, and the human brain.

Now bookmarked.

Hans

UrsulaV

9th June 2006, 06:09 AM

But the ramps! Where are the ramps? Whe-e-e-rrre ar-r-re the RA-A-A-AMPS?????

(It's Rodney's day off.)

*beats you with a ramp*

Hellbound

9th June 2006, 06:21 AM

*beats you with a ramp*

HAH!

NO ONE could be someone with a ramp! It's impossible!

Now, if you had a kite and a pulley...

rocketdodger

9th June 2006, 06:50 AM

Yeah I seemed to have missed the part where it took him a full 28 years to build it. Even shoving pennies under the slabs to move them wouldn't take that long.

I still buy into that ancient astronaut/telekinesis BS about the pyramids though. Does that make me a sh-- buyer?

kleinjahr

9th June 2006, 08:32 AM

Nice site, Cypri and gfunk. Never saw it before, bookmarked now.

J. Arthur Hastur

9th June 2006, 08:37 AM

I can lift my Jaguar's engine block by myself with a block and tackle, is that magic?

UrsulaV

9th June 2006, 09:15 AM

HAH!

NO ONE could be someone with a ramp! It's impossible!

Edgar Cayce could do it.

Arkan_Wolfshade

9th June 2006, 10:47 AM

Edgar Cayce could do it.

*SMACK*

blutoski

9th June 2006, 10:55 AM

for all the others who wanna just clicky-click
http://www.theforgottentechnology.com/

by the way, the site has adverts for his dvd, so i feel slightly dirty for assisting in the posting but i did see a show on discovery or something that covered his techniques and its pretty cool.

I think skeptics need to build another site to cover this stuff. There are many techniques he didn't cover, because they'd be restricted to antique materials, that are re-enacted by archaeologists. eg: using carved wood to 'roundify' large blocks.

The site is missing many photos, is difficult to navigate, and looks like crap, from a design point of view.

RandFan

9th June 2006, 10:55 AM

To see a rational explanation of how the "mystery" of Coral Castle can be explained, go to http://www.theforgottentechnology.com/. A retired carpenter who frequently had to move heavy items around construction sites by himself has some fascinating pictures and videos of what ONE man can do just by using his knowledge of how the world works.

A man I work with, a physics instructor no less, introduced me to Coral Castle with words to the effect of, "I don't know how he did it!". A little internet research led me to the above site, and when I showed it to the physics guy he bought the guys video on DVD and now shows it to his class to encourage their skepticism of supernatural claims. Made me feel pretty good, but the hero is really the retired carpenter! Oh damn that is so cool. Thank you.

This reminds me of that stupid BS about a bumble bee not being able to fly but because it doesn't now that it can't fly it flys anyway.

Backward thinking: I don't know how it works so it is impossible, also, I don't know how it works so God did it.

Critical thinking: I don't know how it works but it is empirical that it does now we just have to figure out the physics.

A big welcome to Cypripedium. :)

That damn castle has annoyed the hell out of me for years.

blutoski

9th June 2006, 11:06 AM

That damn castle has annoyed the hell out of me for years.

Skeptical Inquirer had a story about this in their March issue. (I think it was March).

This is a link to a licenced online version:
The Mysterious Coral Castle: A Fanciful Myth (http://www.livescience.com/history/060328_coral_castle.html)

Meffy

9th June 2006, 12:01 PM

I still buy into that ancient astronaut/telekinesis BS about the pyramids though. Does that make me a sh-- buyer?
Certainly not. The telekinetic ancient astronauts were right when they told us all that the Egyptians did the whole job by themselves using engineering know-how plus lots of time and a large, reliable workforce that had to eat while their farms weren't farmable. Why would telekinetic ancient astronauts lie about that?

I can lift my Jaguar's engine block by myself with a block and tackle, is that magic?
That depends. If the block and tackle are American football moves, then yes, it is magic. If they're a system of pulleys then it's just sufficiently advanced technology.

tsg

9th June 2006, 12:08 PM

If they're a system of pulleys then it's just sufficiently advanced technology.

One of my favorite quotes. There is, of course, the little known corrollary: "Technology that is distinguishable from magic isn't sufficiently advanced."

The Mad Hatter

9th June 2006, 12:25 PM

Upon hearing this story, Scuffs responded, "I didn't want to marry Edward when I was 16, and I don't want to marry him now." Leedskalnin died a few years later.

What a wonderful story...

9th June 2006, 12:48 PM

*beats you with a ramp*

Oh oh oh, that's going to be smelly...

http://www.main.nc.us/yancey/Ramps/ramps_or_wild_leek.htm

OH are they strong.

Arkan_Wolfshade

9th June 2006, 12:50 PM

Oh oh oh, that's going to be smelly...

http://www.main.nc.us/yancey/Ramps/ramps_or_wild_leek.htm

OH are they strong.
http://www.leekspin.com/

opqdan

9th June 2006, 01:01 PM

What a wonderful story...
I may be a jerk, but I read that and laughed till my sides hurt. That is the ultimate "pwn3d" story.

Man: I love you.
Girl: I don't love you.
Man: I will build a giant stone thing by myself, to show you my love.
(28 years pass)
Man: I am done, now love me!
Girl: Go die in a fire.
Man: **does**

Anyways, that forgotten technology link is one of the cooles things I have ever seen. I only wish that all of the pictures on the site worked. The DVD seems like it would be interesting (and super educational), but alas I don't use PayPal (nor do I want to).

Cypripedium

9th June 2006, 01:05 PM

Oh damn that is so cool. Thank you.

This reminds me of that stupid BS about a bumble bee not being able to fly but because it doesn't now that it can't fly it flys anyway.

Backward thinking: I don't know how it works so it is impossible, also, I don't know how it works so God did it.

Critical thinking: I don't know how it works but it is empirical that it does now we just have to figure out the physics.

A big welcome to Cypripedium. :)

That damn castle has annoyed the hell out of me for years.

I'm glad you liked it - that guy is totally amazing to my mind. Just went out and started experimenting and finding out what worked to move these things, and didn't just look at all these "mysterious" things and shake his head in woo woo wonder. Also, thank you for the big welcome!

Cypripedium

9th June 2006, 01:11 PM

Anyways, that forgotten technology link is one of the cooles things I have ever seen. I only wish that all of the pictures on the site worked. The DVD seems like it would be interesting (and super educational), but alas I don't use PayPal (nor do I want to).

The guy's forte is not web design for sure, but some of the pictures that appear to be "not working", actually work when you mouse over them. Are those the ones you are referring to?

c4ts

9th June 2006, 01:21 PM

It's magic 'cause the doors can be moved even though they're heavy!

tsg

9th June 2006, 01:33 PM

The guy's forte is not web design for sure, but some of the pictures that appear to be "not working", actually work when you mouse over them. Are those the ones you are referring to?

The one's that don't work for me are the mpegs. I was only able to view them by copying the url out of the page source and pasting it in a new browser tab.

cloudshipsrule

9th June 2006, 01:33 PM

All of you who think he built the castle without special powers are WRONG. Here's the truth, if you can handle it.

http://www.coralcastlecode.com/id1.html

Additionally, bigfoot may or may not have also helped lift some of the 'medium' sized stones.

WARNING: DO NOT EVER ATTEMPT TO COMBINE THE FORCES OF THE 'CORAL CASTLE CODE' AND THE 'TIME CUBE'. THE RESULTS WOULD NOT ONLY DESTROY EARTH, BUT POSSIBLY THE ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEM.

tsg

9th June 2006, 01:37 PM

"VERY IMPORTANT 'Coral Castle Code' is not a hoax or a made up fantasy"

Rule #3: If they have to tell you it's not a scam, it's a scam.

(Rules #1 & 2 being, respectively, "If they say it's not about the money, it's about the money" and "If the salesman says 'Trust me', don't.")

c4ts

9th June 2006, 01:39 PM

tsg

9th June 2006, 01:40 PM

So what happens if the salesman says "Don't trust me, this is a scam"?

Trust him, it's a scam.

RandFan

9th June 2006, 02:32 PM

I'm glad you liked it - that guy is totally amazing to my mind. Just went out and started experimenting and finding out what worked to move these things, and didn't just look at all these "mysterious" things and shake his head in woo woo wonder. Also, thank you for the big welcome!Cool, I just wish I could learn to slow down and check what I write before I post or at least shortly after I post. Damn that was awful.

Meffy

9th June 2006, 02:38 PM

One of my favorite quotes. There is, of course, the little known corrollary: "Technology that is distinguishable from magic isn't sufficiently advanced."
Who needs random mission statement generators? That is now my personal mission statement. Thankewverramudge.

Beady

9th June 2006, 02:57 PM

...but i did see a show on discovery or something that covered his techniques and its pretty cool.

It's not obvious, but click on the http://www.theforgottentechnology.com/discoverybutton.jpg (http://www.exn.ca/news/video/exn2003/10/21/exn20031021-stonehenge.asx)on his page and you can watch a five-minute segment.

ETA: Hey! I didn't mean to, but if you click on it here, in this post, you'll go straight to it. (Is that how you do hot-linking?)

KevinM

9th June 2006, 03:27 PM

PErsonally I love this thing. Simply put its a great answer that idiot Von Dainakan. If one man working by himself could build some thing that spectacular its hard to think that the Egyptians that had an enormous work force and were fairly advanced for there time couldn't have done the pyramids. Its a tribute to what people can do when they put the work in to actually do it and it is in fact a true wonder. Not a supernatural wonder but a fairly impressive engineering wonder(I'm not an engineer but to me carving personally a 9 ton slab of coral, erecting it, and putting it on a pivot well supported enough a child could move it is impressive NOT supernatural but definetly impressive). I believe in a number of odd things but peoples need to come up with outside help to have created the man made wonders of the world annoy me. I'd rather believe in the ingeniusness of the species then that some space cadet showed up and did it for them.

blutoski

10th June 2006, 02:00 PM

The guy's forte is not web design for sure, but some of the pictures that appear to be "not working", actually work when you mouse over them. Are those the ones you are referring to?

Possibly. Mouseover doesn't work on my setup. They're just blank. I have a unix computer (KDE/Gnome) so it's probably browser-specific.

Another sign of bad web design.

articulett

10th June 2006, 03:03 PM

I don't understand.

Some guy built an ugly-ass building. Unfortunately, that doesn't require supernatural powers.

Perhaps you are not "open minded" enough. Interesting Ian will tell you it's "magic" of astonishing obviousness. Say, don't a lot of magicians do their magic under cover of darkness, smoke, etc. Why would that be?

motto of the ignorant and credulous:

"Science hasn't explained it satisfactorily to me, therefore it must be supernatural!"

articulett

10th June 2006, 03:12 PM

If you think this is amazing--you should read the bible--this dude walks on water and another dude parts a sea! Oh, and the book of Mormon is highly mysterious...:

A teen boy translated gold plates that magically floated to the sky--that's right, they don't exist anymore! That proves they were magi! Science can't explain it. Nor can science explain UFO abductees experience--but science has a pretty good understanding of how Charles Manson was seen as Jesus (schizophrenia coupled with drug addled teens eager to believe that Jesus could appear as a beggar).

If the original poster really loves mystery--he really ought to check out Scientology--heavy duty stuff. Science can't explain it even though it has practically has the word "science" in it's name. And have you heard of the girl with the X-ray eyes?

By golly the world is one magical place for the ignorant, isn't it? That reminds me, have you heard about the guy who flies in the air each year on a sled filled with presents for all the good boys and girls in the world--it's pulled by flying reindeers!

tsg

10th June 2006, 06:18 PM

Possibly. Mouseover doesn't work on my setup. They're just blank. I have a unix computer (KDE/Gnome) so it's probably browser-specific.

Another sign of bad web design.

It didn't work on either my Windows machine at work or in KDE at home. I am using Firefox on both machines. Copying the URL of the mpg's from the source into a new tab worked on the Windows machine. I haven't tried it under KDE.

rocketdodger

12th June 2006, 06:51 AM

If the original poster really loves mystery--he really ought to check out Scientology--heavy duty stuff.

I don't care about mystery, I just really really want to be capable of telekinesis, so my interest lies trying to prove to myself that it is possible.

tsg

12th June 2006, 08:34 AM

I don't care about mystery, I just really really want to be capable of telekinesis, so my interest lies trying to prove to myself that it is possible.

I am convinced that if telekinesis did exist, it would be primarily used to make other people's clothes fall off.

At least, that's what I would use it for.

Beady

12th June 2006, 08:42 AM

I am convinced that if telekinesis did exist, it would be primarily used to make other people's clothes fall off.

Especially in high school.

Hellbound

12th June 2006, 10:39 AM

I am convinced that if telekinesis did exist, it would be primarily used to make other people's clothes fall off.

At least, that's what I would use it for.

I dunno, I'd be "adjusting" slot machines and roulette wheels for a while first :)

Tirdun

12th June 2006, 11:37 AM

It has to be Magick because Physics wasn't invented until 1939. By the kaiser, if my history is up to snuff, so as to defeat the French during the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Meffy

12th June 2006, 11:54 AM

It has to be Magick because Physics wasn't invented until 1939. By the kaiser, if my history is up to snuff, so as to defeat the French during the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Can I see a game save file? Your difficulty level must've been higher than I play at... erm, sorry, just jonesin' for a game of Civilization IV and haven't the time to indulge.

Dr Adequate

13th June 2006, 01:28 AM

WARNING: DO NOT EVER ATTEMPT TO COMBINE THE FORCES OF THE 'CORAL CASTLE CODE' AND THE 'TIME CUBE'. THE RESULTS WOULD NOT ONLY DESTROY EARTH, BUT POSSIBLY THE ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEM. That's the entire solar system including John Depew and Gene Ray?

I say we do it.