Science: Nazca Balloonists?

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Scientists have long wondered how the ancient Nazcas were able to draw the giant designs and figures that stretch for miles across Peru's bleak Nazca plains. They have been particularly fascinated by the fact that although there are no nearby mountains, the designs are recognizable only from a high elevation.

Maria Reiche, a German researcher, speculates that the Nazca artists executed the drawings by first sketching them on small plots of land, then used a complex system of strings and central piles of rock to make large-sized "blowups" (TIME, March 25, 1974). Members of the International Explorers Society, a travel-oriented organization based in Coral Gables, Fla., have another explanation. They believe that the Nazcas laid out their remarkable figures while being guided by observers hovering above them in a hot-air balloon. In an attempt to prove their point, I.E.S. members last month flew a crude balloon over the figures.

The I.E.S. began to develop its theory when members who had flown over the giant figures became convinced that it was technically impossible for the Nazcas to create—or appreciate—them without a vantage point in the sky. Further research suggested that the vantage point could well have been a balloon. Textiles recovered from desert graves provided evidence that the Nazcas had the materials to make the balloon's envelope, and a picture on an ancient

Nazca ceramic pot seems to represent a hot-air bag. The researchers also found a significant clue in documents at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. These papers revealed that in 1709 a Brazilian-born Jesuit missionary named Bartholomeu de Gusmao went to Lisbon and demonstrated (74 years before France's Montgolfier brothers flew their balloon over Paris) a model of a balloon believed to have been used by the Indians. Filled with smoke and buoyed by hot air from glowing coals in a clay pot, the replica rose from Gusmao's hand and floated toward the palace ceiling.

Delayed Lift-Off. To support its theory, the I.E.S. decided to build and fly its own version of a Nazca balloon. The result was an odd contraption called Condor I, with an 88-ft.-high envelope made from fabric that closely resembles materials recovered from Nazca gravesites. The balloon's lines and fastenings were made from native fibers; the boat-shaped gondola was woven from totora reeds picked by Indians from Peru's 2.4-mile-high Lake Titicaca.

Flying the balloon proved more difficult than building it. Once released on its maiden flight, Condor climbed quickly, reaching an altitude of 600 ft. in 30 seconds. Then, buffeted by brisk winds, it fell back to earth and hit with a thud that bounced the two pilots out of their gondola. Free of both pilots and ballast, Condor lifted off again, rose to 1,200 ft., flew about 2% miles in 18 minutes, and then landed gently on the plain.

Despite the near disaster, Michael DeBakey (son of the heart surgeon and an I.E.S. director) feels that the point has been made. "We set out to prove that the Nazcas had the skill, the materials and the need for flight," he says. "I think we have succeeded."