A massive boulder that looks like E.T. was discovered on an isolated farm in Brazil and has since become a popular tourist attraction.
The massive rock, which looks to be well over 20 feet tall, has fissures and protrusions that give it nearly identical facial features to the beloved extraterrestrial from Stephen Spielberg’s 1980s film.
The rock may be found in the backyard of Miguel Barreto’s property in the Brazilian state of Roraima, which is owned by the director of the So Luiz environmental department.
He only discovered the rock following a 2002 fire that spread across the farm and reached an area covered by trees and plants.
‘I saw the burned part and didn’t pay much attention,’ Barreto recently told Brazilian news outlet G1.
‘But when I looked again I saw and realized that it looked like ET, I got scared.
It has since become a popular attraction for out-of-towners and last year was recognized as a Natural Landscape by the city’s Department of Tourism and Environment.
Visitors are not charged a fee to enter the farm.
‘Knowing the stone has now become popular, if you came to São Luiz and didn’t visit the E.T. rock, the you didn’t come to São Luiz,’ Barreto quipped.
The E.T. boulder and the two rocks that serve as its base ended up on the farm due to erosion and movement along the mountain zone, said Dr. Fábio Wankler, a sedimentary geologist at the Roraima Federal University.
The stone developed its E.T. attributes because of three geomorphologic features known as sphenoidal exfoliation, flutes and dissolution basins, according to Dr. Fábio Wankler, a sedimentary geologist at the Roraima Federal University.
Wankler said that the flutes and dissolution basins features on the rock were caused by ‘the passage of water over the rock that end up carving preferential channels for passage of water that flow from the top to the base.’
The features, he added, are also visible on other rocks located in the mountain range on roads in northern and southern Roraima.
E.T. made its screen debut on June 11, 1982. The movie revolves around a young California boy who befriends the gentle alien and helps him escape Earth on a spaceship. The film generated $792.9 million at the box office.