Emilio Spedicato is a well known figure in catastrophist circles and over the years has come up with some very good ideas. Over at www.q-mag.org/the-pyramids-of-giza-the-belt-of-orion-and-three-volcanoes… … he has come out with an alternative to the Bauval and Gilbert interpretation of the lay-out of the three main pyramids in Egypt. Apparently, La Violette and others have claimed they do not exactly match the alignment of the three stars in the Belt of Orion and therefore our friend and his associates looked around for an alternative astronomical phenomenon. This involves a relook at the ideas of Donald Patten – and they quote one of his books, Catastrophism and the Old Testament (1988). The pyramids are based on three volcanoes on Mars – in the vicinity of Mons Olympus. In order for the volcanoes to be visible to people on the surface of the Earth it would require the orbit of Mars having a different trajectory – which is where Patten comes in. His theory is that Mars was pushed out of a previous orbit and for a while had an elliptical orbit that was chaotic as far as the Inner Solar System is concerned. It periodically came close to the Earth. Eventually it settled down into a stable orbit that was resonant with other solar system bodies. Obvioulsy, a chaotic period would have generated geological activity on Mars – which is where the three prominent volcanoes come in. Mars also lost any water it possessed at the surface.
In mainstream these geological events are placed in the remoter past – not in recent history. In addition, to add some authenticity to the new hypothesis they have reinterpreted the topographic meaning of the word pyramid, claiming a link with elevated and fire. In so doing they lose the link with the zodiacal lights – which is pyramidal in shape and composed of dust that relects sun light. In a more dusty period the zodiacal lights would have been a very distinct feature of the night sky – not just in the tropics but in the temperate zones as well.