Some neat strange sites to use in a Rifts game.

[Blight]

I saw an article in yahoo, and thought these could be some fun locations to use in a rifts game. What rift like explanations could you come up with for these locations?


Racetrack Playa
Death Valley National Park, Calif.
The Mystery: People have long scratched their heads over the “Sailing Stones,” which mysteriously move across the sandy playa’s surface on their own, leaving visible tracks in their wake.
Fact: Given that these rocks chart a new course once every three years, it’s no wonder no one has ever seen them in motion. Some theorize that, in winter, wet clay and strong winds—which can reach speeds of up to 90 mph—are to blame, but no one is 100 percent certain what causes this curious natural (or unnatural?) phenomena.


Mount Shasta
Redding, Calif.
The Mystery: This stunning snow-capped peak in the Cascade Mountain range, 60 miles south of the Oregon border, has long been considered one of the planet’s great “cosmic power spots,” luring everyone from Native Americans to Buddhist monks and hippies. Its sacred slopes are home to a potpourri of mysteries: spontaneous altered states; UFO sightings; crystal caves; encounters with Ascended Masters; underground military bases; even the rumored home to Lemurians, surviving members of a sensitive super-race some believe existed 12,000 years ago during the time of Atlantis.
Fact: A chance encounter with a strange group of warm, seemingly enlightened people in Shasta Valley inspired James Hilton to author the classic 1933 novel Lost Horizon, a tale about the idyllic community of Shangri-La. Others claim similar real-life experiences, but the mountain’s sheer natural beauty is inspiration enough for most.


Skinwalker Ranch
Uintah Basin, Utah
The Mystery: Its name may be a tongue-in-cheek twist on filmmaker George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch, but this 480-acre compound in northeastern Utah is the site of many unexplained — and harrowing — incidents: roaring underground noises, the appearance of menacing blue orbs, attacks by shape-shifting beasts, and evidence of animal mutilations.
Fact: Purchased in 1994 by a couple looking to raise cattle and quickly put on the market two years later, the area—according to local Native American folklore—is legendary for its dark energies. The ranch is now managed by the National Institute for Discovery Sciences, a paranormal research organization.


The Paulding Light
Paulding, Mich.
The Mystery: For more than a century, on clear nights, unidentified spheres of light appear like clockwork on the horizon of this four corners town. To date, there’s no logical explanation for the luminescent red, white, and green balls that dance on the edge of the forest, but they are rumored to be the ghost of a railroad brakeman who met his fate on the tracks.
Fact: Locals and the curious regularly line up by the dozens for the bizarre light show; the Michigan Forest Service has even posted signs guiding sky-gazers to the best viewing spots.


Coral Castle
Homestead, Fla.
The Mystery: Made from 1,100 tons of megalithic-style limestone boulders — some heavier than the Pyramids’ and bigger than those at Stonehenge — this unusual structure, located 25 miles south of Miami, was built from 1923 to 1951 by a single man, a diminutive Latvian immigrant named Edward Leedskalnin, as an homage to the love of his life who left him on the eve of their wedding. But how did he do it?
Fact: Leedskalnin claimed he knew the secret to the Great Pyramids’ construction, and was once witnessed levitating stones. Other construction details—no mortar, precision seams, impossible balancing acts—have also stumped scientists for decades.

Ringing Rocks Park
Bucks County, Penn.
The Mystery: Deep in the woods in this 128-acre park is a large field of mysterious boulders that, when struck, sound like bells, as if they are hollow and made of metal. Each summer, hundreds of visitors flock here, hammers in hand, to perform their own "rock concerts."
Fact: While scientists have determined the stones are made from a volcanic substance called diabase, there's no explanation for their unusual ringing properties, nor for the eight-acre field itself, which is situated high on a hillside, not at the bottom, ruling out that it may have been formed by a glacier or avalanche.

Mel’s Hole
Manastash Ridge, Wash.
The Mystery: The nine-foot-wide bottomless hole and former dump site on Mel Waters’s former property near Ellensburg, Wash., is awash in mystery, which includes its professed ability to “re-animate” dead animals. Some speculate the opening is actually a tunnel, giving rise to the “Hollow Earth” theory first proposed by astronomer Edmond Halley (of comet fame) in the 17th century. The most pressing secret: Where does the hole lead?
Fact: Waters — who has since moved — reported sinking a fishing line some 15 miles into the pit in an attempt to find the bottom. He never found it. He also claimed the abyss would shoot black rays and could bring animals back to life; a neighbor tossed a dead dog into the hole only to have it return, alive, from out of the woods. Some believe the discovery is a blow hole for Mount Rainier, but no one knows how to account for the high strangeness.
Other sites that could be fun to use

Dulce, New Mexico. NIDS established a presence in the area in 1998 and 1999, based at Mount Archuleta, and interviews with local residents, especially the Jicarilla Apache, revealed large numbers of similar reports (UFOs, Bigfoot, cattle mutilation, etc.).
The Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington, an area of increased alleged UFO activity. One family reported voices (some being telepathic), strange noises, poltergeist activity, "shadow men", flying balls of light, flying vehicles and disappearing people.
Elbert County, Colorado, where one family encountered strange aircraft, numerous Bigfoot sightings, cattle mutilations, mysterious voices and encounters with humanoids and flying vehicles as well as a strange small box which "stole a tree".

San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado, where local journalist Chris O’Brien has charted a wide range of unusual phenomena and describes the area as a "paranormal Disneyland"
Sedona, Arizona, which, as well as its famous vortex and New Age beliefs, has one ranch, belonging to the Bradshaw family, that has reported similar events including strange lights, Sasquatches, cattle and dog mutilation, alleged encounters with "greys" and a portal through which they could see another world.

Bridgewater Triangle in southeastern Massachusetts and notably the Hockomock Swamp of which the name translates to "Place Where Spirits Dwell." Since colonial times the area has been a site of alleged paranormal phenomenon, ranging from UFO and "black helicopter" sightings (including many with multiple points of corroboration including police and a local news anchorman), to poltergeists to orbs, balls of fire and other spectral phenomena, always a various "bigfoot" sightings, giant snakes, and 'thunderbird' giant birds, as well as the mutilation of cattle and other livestock. Near by is the Dighton Rock the source of great controversy concerning possible pre-Columbian visitors ranging from Vikings, to Portuguese to Phoenicians. Similar to other sites the described, the area was the site of some of history's bloodiest battles involving Native Americans. The reported activity directly parallels that described in "The Hunt for the Skinwalker" yet has occurred over the course of many decades.

[Balabanto]

Here's one for you.

Just read Weird New Jersey. You'll get so much information that you'll never process it all.

[Prince Artemis]

Crater Lake Oregon
Clearest, cleanest water in the world, and an eery blue. The crater of a massive four caldera volcano that collapsed in on itself. Unusually cold compared to the surrounding area, it is a popular tourist destination. It even has an island that is the only remaining funnel (the volcano is extint though, iirc) is actually named 'Wizard Island'. It also has an odd resident, which is a log that has been floating vertically arround the entire lake in random paths for over a century.

[Killer Cyborg]

Neat!

I've always wanted to go to Coral Castle.

Now I want to go to Mel's Hole too (unfortunately, nobody can find it).

[Balabanto]

Here's one for you.

Just read Weird New Jersey. You'll get so much information that you'll never process it all.

Yes.

And Devil's Tower. Jesus, that thing is scary.

[Shawn Merrow]

Crater Lake Oregon
Clearest, cleanest water in the world, and an eery blue. The crater of a massive four caldera volcano that collapsed in on itself. Unusually cold compared to the surrounding area, it is a popular tourist destination. It even has an island that is the only remaining funnel (the volcano is extint though, iirc) is actually named 'Wizard Island'. It also has an odd resident, which is a log that has been floating vertically arround the entire lake in random paths for over a century.

Crater Lake still has activity.

USGS Crater Lake

[Blight]

BTW Blight, you mind either posting this on the BtS board, or if I do?

Sorry i took so long to reply working straight 12 hr shifts. ya please post them. I thought they would make good locations in any setting,

[abtex]

Interesting to say the least. Unfortunately, many would have been destroyed before the coming of the rifts, much less since then.

You might consider posting these on the BtS board as well. It'd fit the theme of that game more then Rifts.

Destroyed or came to full 'life' with the coming of the Rifts' powers.