Marree Man

Its origin remains a mystery: no one claimed responsibility for its creation and no eye-witness has been found, notwithstanding the scale of the operation required to form the outline on the plateau floor.

[8] Several anonymous press releases sent to media and local businesses in July[9] and August 1998 led to the suggestion that the Marree Man was created by people from the United States.

[10] On 16 July 1998, it was reported that a small glass jar had been found in a trough freshly dug at the site containing a satellite photo of the Marree Man[citation needed] together with a note bearing a U.S. flag and references to the Branch Davidians and "Stuart's Giant".

[12]The words come from Hedley H. Finlayson's 1946 book The Red Centre, in a section describing the hunting of wallabies with throwing sticks and with photographs of hunters without loincloths and other details seen in the "Marree Man".

Experts who surveyed the geoglyph were reported as having concluded it was forged with an earthmoving machine and that the person responsible must have had extensive knowledge of satellite-linked global positioning systems.

A friend said:Bardius had a good understanding of global satellite technology, he had access to earthmoving equipment and there were suspicions he was involved from the start but no one could prove anything.

At the time of discovery, the area was part of a Federal Court lawsuit through the National Native Title Tribunal to determine the traditional owners.

As native title claimants, the Dieri Mitha took legal action to stop charter flights and vehicles visiting the site, prompting the state government to close the area to the public shortly after discovery.

[20] The artwork was called environmental vandalism by the former Environment Minister, Dorothy Kotz, and graffiti by the South Australian chief of Aboriginal affairs, David Ruthman.

[19] In June 2018, adventurer Dick Smith revealed that he had had a team working on investigating the origins of Marree Man for two years to no avail and was offering a A$5,000 reward for information leading to identifying its creators.