For those interested in the original origin of the phrase "cargo cult," during WWII a bunch of American soldiers landed in a small island chain in the Pacific c

For those interested in the original origin of the phrase "cargo cult," during WWII a bunch of American soldiers landed in a small island chain in the Pacific called Melanesia. They showed up out of nowhere with huge ships and planes, brought a bunch of food, vehicles and contraptions, looked and spoke completely differently than the inhabitants had hardly seen in such numbers. The GIs shared their food, gave little gifts to the natives, and then abruptly left. The locals then built altars (such as the straw plane in the OP) in the hopes of luring back the "visiters from another place" and ushering in another era of abundance. They became a "Cargo Cult." And it's hard to blame them. That must have been an absolutely worldview shattering experience.