What Is the Mojave Megaphone?

Deep in the Mojave Desert, a set of large metal cones are permanently embedded in the rocky terrain. Learn what we do (and don't) know about it in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/mojave-desert-megaphone.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum Here. The Mojave Desert is
the driest desert in North America, and though it rests
between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, it is remote, mostly roadless,
and full of secrecy, and not far from the ghost
town of Crusero, California, in a remote corner of the

(00:24):
Mojave Desert National Preserve. This arid emptiness is home to
the enigmatic Mojave Megaphone, and so called for its resemblance
to allowed speaker. This megaphone is a rusty hunk of
metal permanently embedded into a rocky outcropping. No one has
been able to identify what exactly this thing is. Some

(00:45):
call it the Sentinel Enigma. Others call it art. Everyone
calls it a mystery. There's nothing and no one for
miles around. It's a riddle as to how this heavy,
roughly eight foot or two and a half meter long,
very unwieldy object wound up in its resting place. Comprised
of two horn shaped pieces of metal bolted together in

(01:07):
the middle, it's too big to be a one person job,
a group of people, or perhaps aliens went to a
lot of work to situate this monstrosity on a cliff
side so far from any civilized place. No one knows
how long it's been there either. For the article this
episode is based on how Stuff Work. Spoke via email
with Eric Edwards, the founder of campsite photos dot com.

(01:31):
He wrote about the Sentinel Enigma on his blog and
has visited it. He said, my best guess is that
it was put up there about thirty plus years ago,
although it is in two pieces. Each piece is very heavy,
but a few people could probably carry and drag it
up there, and still it would be very difficult and
take a long time to get it up that hill.

(01:52):
There's also another lingering question, what in the world is it?
Edwards said, that's the big question. It has some similarities
to a siren circa nineteen forties and nineteen fifties, but
that seems unlikely. Still, the area was used to transport
chemical agents on rail, and perhaps the iron was used
if there was a mishap. He also pointed out that

(02:15):
there are no markings on it to indicate what it
is or where it was made. Recently, someone put animal
skin over the openings and used it as a drum,
but he says he doesn't think that was its original purpose.
Others have speculated that it's part of a rocket system
or perhaps a pipeline ventory that is an hour glass
shaped enclosure that's used to control the flow rate of

(02:36):
a fluid, and because it has cross hair shaped metal
strips inside of it, others believe it's a gun sight
or other sighting device of some sort. And there are
more fantastical theories too. Perhaps it's a tool pointing out
the location of a California cave system that extends for
hundreds of miles, or even an X marking the spot

(02:56):
of a treasure hoard. Given its shape, though the megaphone
nickname makes a lot of sense, maybe it's part of
an antiquated alert system, as some people have guessed, like
a tornado siren, or perhaps not has to works. Also
spoke by email Sarah Roby, a history professor at Idaho
State University, and she said it's probably not a civil

(03:18):
defense or a raid siren. The early Cold War versions
almost always have a rectangular mouth, and World War Two
era airraid sirens didn't really look like that either, Even
the ones that were more cylindrical Moreover, you'd expect to
find such civilian oriented sirens in much more heavily populated
areas than out in the desert. Her guests, it's a

(03:40):
measurement tool of some kind. She said. It's proximity to
the Edwards Air Force Base, as well as Navy and
Army sites is a much bigger clue. Edwards is where
the Air Force did a lot of sound barrier experiments,
including Chuck Yeager's famous flights. I could definitely see something
like the megaphone being some sort of measuring instrument related
to flight shock or sound waves, etcetera. She also points

(04:03):
out that the Nevada Testing Site now the Nevada National
Security Site isn't too far away. That's where all of
the US continental nuclear weapons were tested. These were conducted
above ground until nineteen sixty three, then blow ground after.
She said, even though the megaphone is a hundred and
fifty plus miles that's two plus kilometers away. It's plausible

(04:24):
that something like this could have been used to detect
long range shock waves or other disturbances. However, I kind
of doubt it. If you have a sense of adventure
and a rugged vehicle with high clearance you can make
the journey to the megaphone and then hike the ridge
to see it with your own eyes. There are plenty
of instructions online, but even if you don't have the

(04:46):
motivation or means to see the megaphone in person, it's
clear that these odd objects spark the human imagination in
weirdly moving ways. Edwards said, the desert, especially remote desert locations,
are in currently mysterious. Often you'll find pristine areas with
amazing views and beautiful, sometimes strange geological formations. I think

(05:08):
people like to put these strange objects in these locations
because they add even more mystery and wonder. I doubt
their intentions are to draw interest to any particular area,
but rather to have a little fun and see how
people might react. Today's episode is based on the article

(05:29):
Who's behind mysterious Mojave Desert Megaphone on how stuff Works
dot com, written by Nathan Chandler. Brain Stuff is production
of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works
dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more
podcasts for my heart Radio visit the i heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,