Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2016

ARCHAEOASTRONOMY etation, making in this way easier the iden- tification of any ruins undetectable before. At this stage of his research, the enterpris- ing William was been assisted by Armand Larocque, a remote sensing specialist of the Université du Nouveau-Brunswick, Fred- ericton. In the throes of enthusiasm for what seemed to be emerging from the sat- ellite images, Laroque started making pre- mature press releases, which along with those made by his very young “colleague” were quickly picked up and published by the Journal de Montréal . A William’s phrase that sums up well the situation: “When last January, Dr. Larocque confirmed to me that they distinguished a pyramid and about thirty other structures, it was ex- traordinary” . The little scientist decided to also give a name to the elusive city, K'aak Chi, or “Mouth of Fire”. Once released, the incredible news spread like wildfire in just a few days and the mat- ter began to take on bizarre overtones. Here are some examples. Daniel De Lisle, Canadian Space Agency, in presenting a medal of merit to the young discoverer, said: “What is fascinating in William’s proj- ect is the depth of his research. Finding a link between the position of stars and the location of a lost city [...] was quite excep- tional” . To make things even worse, Laro- que added: “Discovering hidden human E l Caracol, the famous Mayan astronomical ob- servatory at Chi- chen Itza, embel- lishes the map showing the loca- tion of the elu- sive city discover- ed by William with the help (so to speak) of Ar- mand Larocque and Daniel De Lisle. [Le Journal de Montréal]