The White Pyramid tale began in the 1940s, when eyewitness accounts, including one from pilot James Gaussman, claimed to have seen an immense “White Pyramid” near the Chinese city of Xi’an. On a flight between India and China during World War II, he is said to have seen a white jewel-topped pyramid.
Not only was this impressive structure claimed to be the world’s largest pyramid, but it was also said to be surrounded by hundreds of other pyramids, several rising to nearly the same height.
Colonel Maurice Sheahan, Trans World Airlines’ Far Eastern director, told an eyewitness account of his brush with a pyramid in The New York Times on March 28, 1947. On March 30, 1947, The New York Sunday News published a photograph of Sheahan’s pyramid. James Gaussman was later credited with taking this photograph.
James Gaussman was flying back to Assam, India, after flying the ‘Burma Hump,’ which ferried supplies from India to Chungking, China, when engine trouble forced him to descend to a low altitude over China.
Later, he wrote:
“After flying around a mountain, we arrived in a valley. A huge white pyramid stood directly beneath us. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. The pyramid was encased in a veil of glistening white.
It may have been made of metal or some kind of stone. In all sides, it was white. Its capstone, a large piece of precious gem-like stuff, piqued my interest the most. The immense scale of the thing greatly moved me.”
Battle duties pushed the sighting from Gaussman’s mind when he returned to Assam.
Photographs of the huge pyramid he had taken will not be published for another 45 years. Even his report will be buried in the US military’s Secret Service archives before then. The White Pyramid of Xi’an has been pursued by a number of researchers and explorers, but none have been successful to date.
Some say the White Pyramid is concealed among the Qin Ling Mountains’ rugged terrain, difficult to find among the towering mountains and deep gorges.
Chinese officials estimated that there were about 400 pyramids north of Xi’an in 2000, but that number does not include the White Pyramid. Many of the other sites showed mausoleums built more like Mesoamerican pyramids, which vary from Egyptian pyramids in that they have a flat top and are covered in vegetation.
Ancient members of China’s royal class were buried in these burial mounds, intending to rest in peace for all eternity. The majority of the pyramids are difficult to spot since they are hidden in green mountains and hills and are surrounded by dense grass and trees. Just a handful of the buildings have been made available to tourists.
The Chinese government has given clear reasons for why no one is permitted to enter, namely that overzealous archaeologists and visitors can cause harm to the objects.
Officials say they are waiting for technology to progress to the point that they can properly excavate the pyramids and their priceless contents. After all, some of the pyramids are thought to be over 8,000 years old.
Westerners have speculated endlessly about the pyramids’ function and resources, as well as their astronomical significance. “To some rulers, the cardinal points of North, South, East, and West were all important,” according to researchers. It was a sign that you were still number one because your tomb was aligned with the axis of the globe.”
Extraterrestrials, according to the most common conspiracy theory, were perhaps the original architects. Is it true that Erich von Däniken and his ilk’s ancient astronaut theory even applies to the Chinese pyramids? Wherever there is secrecy, conspiracy theories eventually explode.
