(Original headline: Woman Has Hobby That's "Out of the Ordinary" )
Angela Micol, 34, sees things others do not.
She takes satellite images of Earth and enhances them through sophisticated software, then identifies unusual patterns and posts them on her Web site, www.satellitediscoveries.com.
"I look for stuff that's out of the ordinary, unnatural phenomenon," she said. "I look for the unexplained."
Her work caught the attention of the Atlantis 2005 Conference, an annual gathering of scientists and specialists in different fields discussing issues related to the supposed lost land of Atlantis. Her paper, "Remote Sensing and the Search for Atlantis," was accepted to be presented at the conference, being held July 11 through 13 on Milos Island, Greece.
Micol graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1997 with a degree in architecture. Her hobby combines her love of photography with her knowledge of archaeology, satellite imaging and architecture.
When she's not looking at satellite images, she's designing Web sites for clients.
She wants her work in alternative archaeology to be more accepted. Some people ridicule her theories.
"People who do this kind of stuff feel that current views of archaeology are outmoded and go against the grain," she said. "We look for the unexplained. Scientists want to explain it, but their theories make no sense. I like to break out of the box."
Micol is trying to scrape up the money to attend the conference. If not, she hopes to write a book about satellite imaging. She wants others with similar interests to contact her.
"Most people cringe when I talk to them about it," she said. "We are few and far between. People accept what's in books too much. They should try to figure stuff out on their own."
Micol was born and raised in Maiden. She lives in Newton.
