Isn’t it annoying when aliens wake you in the middle of the night instructing you to build a giant rejuvenation machine? Especially when said machine will take years to build and you die before you can even see if it works? Well, this was the radical – if not slightly bum – deal aeronautical engineer and inventor George Van Tassel struck in 1953.
Claiming that a ‘glittering, glowing ship’ from Venus landed at Giant Rock, Van Tassel was beckoned aboard by ‘Solgonda’ member of ‘The Council of Seven Lights’ who proceeded to give him specific details on how to create a machine that could revitalise living cell tissues. Whilst others might have woken the next day, rubbed their eyes and thought ‘hey, cool dream’, Van Tassel chose to believe. Especially when Solgonda continued with ‘telepathic instructions’ on how to build the white domed structure, known as The Integratron. He also began to channel streams of info related to time travel and technologies of rejuvenation.
So far, so woo woo. But Van Tassel’s mission had a surprising amount of support from Earthlings too and construction of The Integratron was financed mostly by donations, including funding from Howard Hughes, no less. The chosen site, in the heart of California’s Mojave Desert, is believed to be a powerful geomagnetic vortex, the perfect position for the unique geometry of the building to concentrate and amplify the Earth’s magnetic field. Van Tassel was convinced these good vibrations would ‘re-charge’ cellular structure, like re-charging a battery, and thus lead to the rejuvenation of human cells.
Artist Aska Matsumiya goes on a sonic pilgrimage to The Integratron.
Scientifically-speaking, no-one’s proved Van Tassel’s theory (yet!) and he died before ever being able to test his creation. But in 2000, three sisters bought this ‘acoustically perfect’ tabernacle and The Integratron continues to resonate far and wide. Nancy, Patty and Joanne Karl are convinced by the building’s sonic rejuvenation capabilities and thousands flock to their mystical healing ‘sound baths’ delivered via quartz crystal singing bowls.
Even the Arctic Monkeys dropped by in 2008 to record part of their song Secret Door here. And Robin Peckfold of the Fleet Foxes is also drawn to The Integratron’s magnetism. So, could this be the alien elixir of eternal youth we’ve all been waiting for? Or just a groovy mecca for bands and sonic bathers? Solgonda, if you’re out there, give us a sign…we’d really like to know.∎
Hungry for more? Check out LA psychedelic collective ‘UFO 2012′ making a Sonic Pilgrimage to The Integratron:
