Mysterious Pentagram in Kazakhstan Desert

A giant five-pointed star surrounded by a circle has been spotted etched into the ground in a remote corner of Kazakhstan. There are almost no other signs of human habitation in the area; the closest settlement is the city of Lisakovsk, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) to the east. The region surrounding Lisakovsk is riddled with ancient archaeological ruins, Bronze Age settlements, cemeteries and burial grounds. The image of the 1,200 ft. symbol is clearly seen on Google Earth and has baffled the scientists on what could have made it.

Conspiracy theorists have unsurprisingly decided that the symbol is connected to devil worship, paganism or religious sects. The pentagram is an ancient symbol used by many cultures and religious groups, including Christians, Freemasons, followers of the Chinese religion of Taoism, and ancient Mesopotamian.

One internet user, Kurt Yates, from Seattle, Washington, claimed that the symbol was probably an abandoned surface to air missile site. According to him, the shape has something to do with how the tracking radars work. Considering the pentagram's size and proximity to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, it was possibly used for tracking Soyuz rockets or some such.

However, an archaeologist named Emma Usmanova, who has studied the ruins in the Lisakovsk region, believes it is the outline of a park made in the form of a star. The star was a popular symbol during the Soviet era – Kazakhstan was a part of the former Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Stars were often used throughout the Soviet Union to decorate building facades, flags and monuments. She said that the star in the Soviet-era lakeside park is marked by roadways that are now lined with trees, which make the star shape even more distinct in aerial photos.

The Kazakh pentagram certainly isn't the first odd discovery gleaned from Google Maps. Many other mysterious-looking images have been found by viewers of Google Maps.

Sources: 1, 2