On April 26, 2023, White Sands Missile Range hosted a film crew from Japan to visit the ancient footprints discovered on the installation. The show airs nationwide in Japan and is called Sekai Fushigi Hakken! or Discovery of the World's Mysteries.
Michael Stowe, archeologist and Cultural Resource Program Manager at White Sands Missile Range and David Bustos, biologist and Chief of Resources at White Sands National Park, led the television crew to the footprints of humans, mammoths, giant sloths and camels.
According to Stowe and Bustos, recent estimates suggest that the prints found are approximately 23,000 years old, revealing that humans may have inhabited North America earlier than previously believed by about 10,000 years. White Sands Missile Range and White Sands National Park are currently collaborating to better understand the footprints and their significance to the region's past.
In addition to the well-known white gypsum sand of White Sands, the visitors observed a notable amount of selenite crystals of all sizes in the vicinity where the footprints were found.
"Gypsum was pulled down from the mountains, and the water washes it down; as it evaporates, the gypsum concentrates, and whenever it finishes its evaporations process then you have selenite crystals," said Bustos.
The upcoming episode of Discovery of the World's Mysteries, highlighting White Sands Missile Range, will be broadcast in Japan in mid-August.
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