WEBVTT - What Is the Mojave Megaphone?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum Here. The Mojave Desert is

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<v Speaker 1>the driest desert in North America, and though it rests

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<v Speaker 1>between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, it is remote, mostly roadless,

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<v Speaker 1>and full of secrecy, and not far from the ghost

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<v Speaker 1>town of Crusero, California, in a remote corner of the

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<v Speaker 1>Mojave Desert National Preserve. This arid emptiness is home to

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<v Speaker 1>the enigmatic Mojave Megaphone, and so called for its resemblance

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<v Speaker 1>to allowed speaker. This megaphone is a rusty hunk of

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<v Speaker 1>metal permanently embedded into a rocky outcropping. No one has

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<v Speaker 1>been able to identify what exactly this thing is. Some

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<v Speaker 1>call it the Sentinel Enigma. Others call it art. Everyone

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<v Speaker 1>calls it a mystery. There's nothing and no one for

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<v Speaker 1>miles around. It's a riddle as to how this heavy,

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<v Speaker 1>roughly eight foot or two and a half meter long,

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<v Speaker 1>very unwieldy object wound up in its resting place. Comprised

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<v Speaker 1>of two horn shaped pieces of metal bolted together in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle, it's too big to be a one person job,

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<v Speaker 1>a group of people, or perhaps aliens went to a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of work to situate this monstrosity on a cliff

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<v Speaker 1>side so far from any civilized place. No one knows

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<v Speaker 1>how long it's been there either. For the article this

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on how Stuff Work. Spoke via email

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<v Speaker 1>with Eric Edwards, the founder of campsite photos dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>He wrote about the Sentinel Enigma on his blog and

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<v Speaker 1>has visited it. He said, my best guess is that

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<v Speaker 1>it was put up there about thirty plus years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>although it is in two pieces. Each piece is very heavy,

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<v Speaker 1>but a few people could probably carry and drag it

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<v Speaker 1>up there, and still it would be very difficult and

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<v Speaker 1>take a long time to get it up that hill.

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<v Speaker 1>There's also another lingering question, what in the world is it?

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<v Speaker 1>Edwards said, that's the big question. It has some similarities

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<v Speaker 1>to a siren circa nineteen forties and nineteen fifties, but

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<v Speaker 1>that seems unlikely. Still, the area was used to transport

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<v Speaker 1>chemical agents on rail, and perhaps the iron was used

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<v Speaker 1>if there was a mishap. He also pointed out that

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<v Speaker 1>there are no markings on it to indicate what it

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<v Speaker 1>is or where it was made. Recently, someone put animal

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<v Speaker 1>skin over the openings and used it as a drum,

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<v Speaker 1>but he says he doesn't think that was its original purpose.

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<v Speaker 1>Others have speculated that it's part of a rocket system

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<v Speaker 1>or perhaps a pipeline ventory that is an hour glass

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<v Speaker 1>shaped enclosure that's used to control the flow rate of

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<v Speaker 1>a fluid, and because it has cross hair shaped metal

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<v Speaker 1>strips inside of it, others believe it's a gun sight

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<v Speaker 1>or other sighting device of some sort. And there are

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<v Speaker 1>more fantastical theories too. Perhaps it's a tool pointing out

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<v Speaker 1>the location of a California cave system that extends for

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds of miles, or even an X marking the spot

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<v Speaker 1>of a treasure hoard. Given its shape, though the megaphone

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<v Speaker 1>nickname makes a lot of sense, maybe it's part of

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<v Speaker 1>an antiquated alert system, as some people have guessed, like

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<v Speaker 1>a tornado siren, or perhaps not has to works. Also

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<v Speaker 1>spoke by email Sarah Roby, a history professor at Idaho

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<v Speaker 1>State University, and she said it's probably not a civil

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<v Speaker 1>defense or a raid siren. The early Cold War versions

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<v Speaker 1>almost always have a rectangular mouth, and World War Two

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<v Speaker 1>era airraid sirens didn't really look like that either, Even

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<v Speaker 1>the ones that were more cylindrical Moreover, you'd expect to

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<v Speaker 1>find such civilian oriented sirens in much more heavily populated

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<v Speaker 1>areas than out in the desert. Her guests, it's a

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<v Speaker 1>measurement tool of some kind. She said. It's proximity to

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<v Speaker 1>the Edwards Air Force Base, as well as Navy and

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<v Speaker 1>Army sites is a much bigger clue. Edwards is where

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<v Speaker 1>the Air Force did a lot of sound barrier experiments,

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<v Speaker 1>including Chuck Yeager's famous flights. I could definitely see something

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<v Speaker 1>like the megaphone being some sort of measuring instrument related

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<v Speaker 1>to flight shock or sound waves, etcetera. She also points

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<v Speaker 1>out that the Nevada Testing Site now the Nevada National

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<v Speaker 1>Security Site isn't too far away. That's where all of

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<v Speaker 1>the US continental nuclear weapons were tested. These were conducted

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<v Speaker 1>above ground until nineteen sixty three, then blow ground after.

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<v Speaker 1>She said, even though the megaphone is a hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>fifty plus miles that's two plus kilometers away. It's plausible

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<v Speaker 1>that something like this could have been used to detect

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<v Speaker 1>long range shock waves or other disturbances. However, I kind

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<v Speaker 1>of doubt it. If you have a sense of adventure

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<v Speaker 1>and a rugged vehicle with high clearance you can make

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<v Speaker 1>the journey to the megaphone and then hike the ridge

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<v Speaker 1>to see it with your own eyes. There are plenty

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<v Speaker 1>of instructions online, but even if you don't have the

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<v Speaker 1>motivation or means to see the megaphone in person, it's

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<v Speaker 1>clear that these odd objects spark the human imagination in

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<v Speaker 1>weirdly moving ways. Edwards said, the desert, especially remote desert locations,

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<v Speaker 1>are in currently mysterious. Often you'll find pristine areas with

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<v Speaker 1>amazing views and beautiful, sometimes strange geological formations. I think

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<v Speaker 1>people like to put these strange objects in these locations

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<v Speaker 1>because they add even more mystery and wonder. I doubt

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<v Speaker 1>their intentions are to draw interest to any particular area,

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<v Speaker 1>but rather to have a little fun and see how

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<v Speaker 1>people might react. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>Who's behind mysterious Mojave Desert Megaphone on how stuff Works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com, written by Nathan Chandler. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more

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<v Speaker 1>podcasts for my heart Radio visit the i heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,