Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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John Hollenhorst reportingOn top of a dormant volcano in Central Utah, there's a very mysterious structure. It is something so baffling in its design it begs the question: What the heck is it?
We're going to answer the question before we're through. And we're saving a real jaw-dropper for the end. But play along with us for a minute and enjoy the mystery of what we call Utah's Stonehenge.
You don't need a helicopter to approach the top of Pahvant Butte. But what better way to reveal a surprising sight. There it is, surrounding the summit of the old volcano.
Something man-made. Something weird, with a purpose so obscure, you can just keep on guessing.
Twenty pairs of pillars. In two concentric circles. You can get there by ATV. And no one would be surprised if you can't figure out what you're looking at.
Dean Smith/ Delta: "Pretty awesome to see it for the first time up here."
In the middle of the circles, a concrete pillbox. A hangout for graffiti artists. And people on sleepovers telling ghost stories.
Tracy Whatcott/ Fillmore: "The scouts, we used to camp here in the wintertime and had a good time."
This oddball structure was built in 1923. The 40 obelisks range from the stubby... to the imposing... up to 14 feet high. But the tops all line up, at exactly the same elevation.
Brook Finlinson/ Lehi: "It's just kind of interesting that something so large is out here. Just kind of ahead of its time, maybe."
So it would seem. It was dreamed up by someone named A.H. Hood, an early advocate of renewable energy, and just possibly a crook. His dream was a gigantic electricity plant powered by wind. He persuaded investors Pahvant Butte was the perfect location.
Dean Smith: "Yeah, the wind blows pretty regularly."
We've been unable to verify the local legend. They say the project went bankrupt and Hood went to prison for mail fraud. For whatever reason, the project was never completed. So the dream of wind power on a big scale in Utah died. And so did Hood's dream of making a big financial killing.
Tracy Whatcott: "And there's lots of stories about the guy hung himself and comes back and tries to find his body parts every year."
So what would it have looked like if it had ever been finished? We spent weeks researching it and got nowhere. No paper trail. No blueprints. No one left who remembers.
We came up with one old photo, showing the beginnnings of a metal framework. So we took it from there and imagined this!
Vague written accounts mention a funnel, or a set of funnels, to catch the wind. Our graphic artist, Kit Rees, came up with a wind-driven arrangement. It makes you wish A.H. Hood had succeeded, so we could see what he had in mind. Instead we see what's left. Hood's dream, gone, with the wind.
Modern day energy experts say the Butte is only a "fair" location for wind power, not a "good" one. But it may have some potential. It's less than an hour's drive from Fillmore. We visited it awhile ago, before the snow fell.
We suggest you inquire locally for directions and road conditions.
