Some absolute legend drew a man in the Australian desert. He was 4.2 km tall. And to this day, no one knows who did it.
The desert drawing became known as Marree Man, named after the small town nearby.
The figure was first spotted in June 1998 by a pilot flying over the remote outback. Take a look at the image below and you can see him holding what looks like a hunting stick or boomerang.
So, who actually drew him? Again, no one knows. Nobody had reported seeing it being made. And whoever created it wasn’t particularly interested in taking credit.
However, anonymous messages began appearing in the media containing clues about its origins. Some used American terminology, leading to theories that an American might have been involved.
A year later, a fax message told authorities a plaque had been buried near the figure’s nose. It contained an American flag, Olympic rings, and a quote about indigenous hunters from Australian zoologist H. H. Finlayson’s 1946 book The Red Centre.
The sign maker who produced the plaque later said it had been ordered in April 1997, more than a year before Marree Man was discovered.
The figure eventually faded, but locals later restored it in 2016.