Giants in the Desert and Image manipulation

Interesting how something is twisted – here is an example. I am not sure where this picture came from – but everyone .. the Hindus and the Muslims have their own version!

Hindu Version (gotten from a friend – Meghna Joshi)

Recent exploration activity in the northern region of India uncovered a
skeletal remains of a human of phenomenal size. This region of the Indian
desert is called the Empty Quarter.

The discovery was made by National Geographic Team (India Division) with
support from the Indian Army since the area comes under the jurisdiction
of the Army.

The exploration team also found tablets with inscriptions that stated that
our Gods of Indian mythological yore, "Brahma" had created people of
phenomenal size the like of which He has not created since. They were very
tall, big, and very powerful, such that they could put their arms around a
tree trunk and uproot it. They were created to bring order among us since
we were always fighting with each other. One of the sons of Bhima of the
Pandava brothers is also thought of to have been carrying these genes.
Later these people, who were given all the power, turned against all our
Gods, and transgressed beyond all boundaries set. As a result they were destroyed by
God Shiva. The Geo Exploration team believe these to be the remains of
those people.

Govt. of India has secured the whole area and no one is allowed to enter
except the Nat Geo personnel. A very small article on this was published
in TOI Mumbai edition on 22-Apr-2004.

See the attachment and note the size of the two men standing in the
picture in comparison to the size of the skeleton !!

Muslim Version:

Recent gas exploration activity in the south east region of the Arabian desert uncovered a skeletal remains of a human of phenomenal size. This region of the Arabian desert is called the Empty Quarter, or in Arabic, ‘Rab-Ul-Khalee’. The discovery was made by the Aramco Exploration team. As God states in the Quran that He had created people of phenomenal size the like of which He has not created since. These were the people of Aad where Prophet Hud was sent. They were very tall, big, and very powerful, such that they could put their arms around a tree trunk and uproot it. Later these people, who were given all the power, turned against God and the Prophet and transgressed beyond all boundaries set by God. As a result they were destroyed.

Ulema’s of Saudi Arabia believe these to be the remains of the people of Aad. Saudi Military has secured the whole area and no one is allowed to enter except the ARAMCO personnel. It has been kept in secrecy, but a military helicopter took some pictures from the air and one of the pictures leaked out into the internet in Saudi Arabia. See the attachment and note the size of the two men standing in the picture in comparison to the size of the skeleton !!

It so turns out that this pic was an entry into Image manipulation contest! Here is the entry and below are the rules of the contest:

In this contest you will create a hoax archaeological discovery (i.e. Atlantis, a 2,000 year-old Coca-Cola can or a giant’s skull, as in IronKite’s themepost). Be open minded, there are many mysteries buried beneath the earth.

The rules of this game are thus:
You are to create an archaeological hoax. Your job is to show a picture of an archaeological discovery that looks so real, had it not appeared at Worth1000, people might have done a double take. As always, quality is a must. We will remove poor entries no matter how much we like you. You’ll have 48 hours for this contest, so make your submission count. See the first contest for an idea of what this one is about.

By the way, here is some info on "Empty Quarter" – a desert within a desert from National Geographic magazine:

In the southern Arabian Peninsula, the world’s largest expanse of sand stretches for 250,000 square miles (647,000 square kilometers). The Ar Rub’ al-Khali, or Empty Quarter, is the king of all Middle Eastern deserts.
The rare unbroken sweep of pure sand was formed over eons. Water and wind eroded volcanic highlands and dry seabeds down to pebbles and grains, which were blown into huge dunes—some nearly 1,000 feet (300 meters) high.

Years can go by with no rain in the Empty Quarter. Despite this, plants such as saltbushes, sedge grasses, and abal bushes survive, as do desert-adapted animals. Sand foxes need no water and eat rodents and reptiles; desert hares stay in deep burrows during brutal summer days; birds thrive on the juices of insects.

People, too, have adapted to the Empty Quarter’s harsh landscape, extreme temperatures, withering winds, and cold winter nights. Bedouin nomads roam the sands, taking their camels to sparse grazing grounds. In addition to providing a means of transportation, camels also provide milk, sometimes the only food or drink available.