'PYRAMIDIOT' EARNING NEW ACCOLADES.

Byline: - Dana Bartholomew

A business consultant deemed a ``pyramidiot'' by Egyptologists for suggesting the world's pyramids were built by wind power has won worldwide recognition.

Maureen Clemmons and aeronautical engineers at the California Institute of Technology have become media darlings since they raised a 4-ton obelisk by kite on a light Mojave breeze last June.

``It's going wild,'' said Clemmons, a 44-year-old software consultant, hair care entrepreneur and mother of two. ``It's geeky, but fun.''

Their success with wind and stones was diagramed in last month's issues of Popular Mechanics, the London-based New Scientist and Current Science, a children's weekly.

Stories have also been published in such countries as Japan, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, Israel and Mexico. Features also have been produced for The Discovery Channel Canada and the British Broadcasting Corp.

Clemmons said National Geographic, which featured the desert feat on its Web site last summer, is negotiating a book deal and television special. If all goes well, she said, she and Caltech will repeat their experiment by lifting a 10-ton megalith via parasail and pulleys this winter.