Great Balls Of Stone

In the 1940’s, plantation workers clearing tropical jungle areas in Costa Rica discovered hundreds of spherical balls hidden beneath the foliage. The largest weighed almost 16 tons and was as tall as a man; the smallest was roughly the size of a tennis ball. When seen from the air, the balls were arranged in patterns – gigantic triangles, circles, squares and cosmological arrangements.


The balls were originally thought to be a product of perhaps Incan or Mayan civilisations, yet some archaeologists estimated their age at 400,000 years! Further examination revealed that the balls were almost perfectly symmetrical within a centimetre or two, and it was highly unlikely that they were the product of man. Incredible rumours began to spread regarding the ‘power’ of the balls – it was said that electronic equipment refused to function in their immediate vicinity, and that people experienced abnormal behaviour after coming into contact with them.

Found mainly in the Diquis Delta region, the balls are also found on Isla del Cano, to the west of Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast. In the subsequent years since their discovery, many of the balls were looted and can be found in the streets and gardens of San Jose. Some believed that riches could be found within the stones, which lead to many being destroyed by zealous thieves. In the late 1970’s, three large balls discovered near Guadalahara were sent to the American University in New York state. The balls were cut and analysed, revealing the complicated internal structure – a coiled alloy of rare-earth metals whose chemical properties were mysterious. The scientists at American University declared that the balls were not man-made, but most likely formed by natural events.

Yet this does not explain the patterns the balls formed when first discovered. Would natural origins arrange the balls in triangles and circles and squares? It is said that there are no straight lines in nature, which lends speculation to the ‘natural’ theory. Of course, many theories have been expounded relating to the ‘Giant Balls Of Costa Rica’, the most outlandish being that they were used by giant creatures for some sort of gameplay. Similar balls have been found in other parts of the world and continue to fascinate to this day.

by Max Drake


(Max Drake is a freelance designer for GritFX. Max has an interest in all things weird and will have regular posts on this blog.)

For more on the “Giant Balls Of Costa Rica”, visit http://www.mysteryspheres.com/info.htm