RESEARCHERS BEG WIND AT QUARTZ HILL: OH, GO FLY OUR KITE.Byline: Daily News QUARTZ HILL - The kite waited, as did the 11-ton spire it was meant to lift. And three dozen volunteers stood by Sunday to test a controversial theory of how the pyramids were built. But the Mojave Desert breeze would not cooperate. ``I'm really bummed,'' said Maureen Clemmons, 45, of Reseda after the sixth attempt by researchers to raise the obelisk obelisk (ŏb`əlĭsk), slender four-sided tapering monument, usually hewn of a single great piece of stone, terminating in a pointed or pyramidal top. on a wispy wisp n. 1. A small bunch or bundle, as of straw, hair, or grass. 2. a. One that is thin, frail, or slight. b. A thin or faint streak or fragment, as of smoke or clouds. 3. wind. ``We were wearing goggles goggles, n the protective eyewear worn by dental personnel and patients during dental procedures. goggles see periocular leukotrichia. last weekend; we couldn't even see'' it was so windy. ``It's sad,'' added Clemmons, leader of a National Geographic expedition. Behind her, a 33-foot telephone pole scaffold grew from the high desert sand. Beneath its pulleys lay the 28-foot obelisk, unmoved by the breeze captured by a flagging parafoil par·a·foil n. A nonrigid, parachutelike, usually nylon airfoil of ribbed or cellular construction, used especially in kites and paragliders. [para(chute) + (air)foil.] . Wind permitting, Clemmons and her team of ``pyramidiots'' of enthusiasts and researchers from the California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. will return in coming weeks for another try. Their theory - that it was the wind, not slaves, that helped raise the megaliths For the record label, see . A megalith is a large stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic of ancient Egypt - got some support last year when they used a mammoth kite to hoist a 3.4-ton obelisk on the Quartz Hill plain 60 miles north of Los Angeles. The feat was broadcast around the world. ``Do you know any Indians who can pray for wind?'' joked Mory Gharib, a Caltech professor of aeronautical engineering, who was frustrated by gusts of only six to 15 mph, too light to lift the giant stone. ``What I could use is a steady fan from Costco.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Maureen Clemmons, left, and her team apply grease Sunday to help wind power in their effort to raise an 11-ton spire. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
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