Oregon Desert Mystery
The Story
In the late summer of 1990 an air national guard reconnaissance aircraft photographed the extraordinary Sri Yantra design carved in a dry lake bed in a remote area of the Oregon desert.
Central command was notified of the discovery and military personnel traveled to the site to examine the design. After weeks of research, they finally released to the public that they had discovered the design measuring over a quarter of a mile in diameter. They concluded that it was not a secret government project and that it was not made by aliens.
Ufologists began conducting investigations and reported that it was probably a government cover up because of the length of time between that initial discovery and when the Air Force decided to release information to the public. They also disputed that it could not have been made by humans, concluding it was too geometrically perfect to be completed in the short amount of time that the Air Force had stated it was constructed.
Bill Witherspoon, an artist from Fairfield Iowa, came forward to claim he and some friends had camped in the desert and had made the large design. The story he told seemed factual, but he never offered any concrete proof of what he claimed. Skeptics refused to believe him and his friends who came forward saying they were not interested in the attention. The story took a back seat to other news events and seemed to disappear.
The design which dates back 6000 years and is still used today as an aid in meditation, is thought to be the king of power symbols by eastern religions. It is a design that has fascinated people for centuries.
Why would anyone create this design measuring over a quarter of mile in diameter in a remote part of the Oregon desert? How could over 13 miles of accurately etched lines be created without sophisticated equipment and the absence of tire tracks or footprints?
The mystery continued to grow through publications, countless online articles and videos through the years. In 2014, 24 years after the Sri Yantra was discovered, Jim Ansley and Bill Witherspoon agreed that a documentary should be produced to tell the truth of what really happened in the Oregon desert in 1990.
Central command was notified of the discovery and military personnel traveled to the site to examine the design. After weeks of research, they finally released to the public that they had discovered the design measuring over a quarter of a mile in diameter. They concluded that it was not a secret government project and that it was not made by aliens.
Ufologists began conducting investigations and reported that it was probably a government cover up because of the length of time between that initial discovery and when the Air Force decided to release information to the public. They also disputed that it could not have been made by humans, concluding it was too geometrically perfect to be completed in the short amount of time that the Air Force had stated it was constructed.
Bill Witherspoon, an artist from Fairfield Iowa, came forward to claim he and some friends had camped in the desert and had made the large design. The story he told seemed factual, but he never offered any concrete proof of what he claimed. Skeptics refused to believe him and his friends who came forward saying they were not interested in the attention. The story took a back seat to other news events and seemed to disappear.
The design which dates back 6000 years and is still used today as an aid in meditation, is thought to be the king of power symbols by eastern religions. It is a design that has fascinated people for centuries.
Why would anyone create this design measuring over a quarter of mile in diameter in a remote part of the Oregon desert? How could over 13 miles of accurately etched lines be created without sophisticated equipment and the absence of tire tracks or footprints?
The mystery continued to grow through publications, countless online articles and videos through the years. In 2014, 24 years after the Sri Yantra was discovered, Jim Ansley and Bill Witherspoon agreed that a documentary should be produced to tell the truth of what really happened in the Oregon desert in 1990.
Found Footage |
As research began a real breakthrough occurred in the spring of 2015 when over six hours of lost video footage was discovered. The footage provides definitive documentation of the design's construction and explains the truth behind who, why and how it was created. The documentary also shows how the mystery was compounded from the beginning and kept alive throughout the years by speculation and conjecture .
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Documentary |
Thirty years later, the film “Sri Yantra:The Oregon Desert Mystery” now answers the public’s questions and gives the true story of its creation. The story chronicles the creation of the design from start to finish and explores the deeper meanings behind it.
The film is narrated by Emmy award winner Peter Coyote and featuring interviews from 1990 and today, is supported by footage of the design’s construction never seen by the public until now. |
The Production |
Interviews were completed in the spring of 2015 with most of the crew members who made the desert Sri Yantra. In the next 2 1/2 years production schedules required interviews with experts and National Guard members. The crew returned to the desert in September of 2017 to where the design had been made 27 years before.
A first edit was completed for the theater cut in the late summer of 2018 and a made for television cut was completed in March of 2019. After several successful screenings and a film festival award, plans were made to begin marketing the film in March of 2020. Due to the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak marketing was paused. Plans are to launch a marketing campaign in the spring of 2021 and release the film shortly after. |
