Strange stuff in the desert - Utah

On a recent vacation trip to Nowhere-in-Particular in west-central Utah, we wanted to visit the site of the old Topaz Internment Camp of WWII fame. On the way back to Nowhere-in-Particular we ran across this.

It's a 'solar plant' or was anyway. Had to look this up on the web to see what it is all about....

The old Ra-Power solar generator site (scam, visit their site at your own risk ( Rapower3.com)







As an aside - here where these strange lollypops came from-

International Automated Systems claims it's revolutionized energy production — and can make investors money. The Utah County firm deploys patented "solar lens" technology to focus the sun's rays into intense thermal energy that drives bladeless turbines that are far more efficient than traditional electrical generators, according to company founder Neldon Johnson.

His system, which uses 24-foot diameter refractive lenses crafted from rolled plastic, can be mass-produced cheaply, requires minimal maintenance and will last a century, he claims.

(The photos obviously say otherwise)

These lenses and related advances can replace coal and other fossil fuels blamed for climate change.

"It produces heat well-above what you would get on a solar collector, more than 1,000 degrees," Johnson said. "The lenses concentrate the sunlight on my systems that produce electricity. We collected that and put it on the grid. We demonstrated that and put it into production."

AND
Under their sales scheme, IAUS and RaPower3 sell the lenses to customers all over the country who then enter into "operation and maintenance agreements" with a third firm called LTB1. At no cost to the purchaser, the firms are supposed to install the lenses at the Millard County site and other sites and generate power from them.

The customers get federal tax incentives for participating in a renewable-energy project and the companies pocket their investments, federal attorneys say. They have sold hundreds of the lenses, but most have never been mounted and remain in storage.


system 'generator' - steam flow out of the nozzels, turning generator....

OOpps
Too bad it's a lot of hot air, according to a suit filed Monday by federal attorneys who say Johnson's inventions are part of an "abusive tax scheme." It already has cost the federal treasury $4 million and it needs to be shut down, authorities allege in papers filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. They seek an injunction against Johnson and his associates who use a multilevel marketing program to sell the technology through a Millard County firm called RaPower3.

Classic Utah-based scam.

Still, it makes for an interesting road-side attraction, if junk is your thing.

I get a kick out of checking old, abandoned sites. The web if full of site covering everything from abandoned amusement parks in Japan to abandoned military sites in the US - like the old Safeguard system in ND.

Anything in your neck of the woods that is both abandoned and available for photographing?

Show us what ya got....

 

No pics at this time, but right around the corner are some nice WWII concrete bunkers. A couple feet thick, dirt mounded up and over them...one bennie from living on an old training base

 

Don't have the issue with Mormons being in the con trade around here, but blacks, whites and SW Asians more than take up the slack.

Anyhoo...in SW PA there was an abandoned telco switching office, and the switches were humans when it was active (up into the early 1960s.) Neat seeing all of the old switchboards looking like they were ready for action after a light dusting

 

The old SafeGuard site in ND


folks have gotten inside and posted pics if anyone is interested.

 

In Ore of all places
(abandoned US military bunkers - Page 4 - BASES, AIRFIELDS, FACILITIES, AND INDUSTRIAL SITES) with more photos and diagram of tunnels


Dallas photographer snaps deserted US military sites | Daily Mail Online
Night photos made at abandoned .mil sites

 

Don't blame all Mormons for what a few do and shame on them for being con men. It was an interesting read on the so called solar place. So many places that were supposed to do more good than harm were just cons and now just sit around as junk.

 

An abandoned gas works in Australia.....


Abandoned Australia - Urban Exploration in Australia
There is a whole site devoted to documenting abandoned buildings and structures in and around Sydney Australia...
Including the Rachel Forster Hospital for women, where a former girlfriend of mine worked during her nurse training...(sigh).

The website gives a rundown of each site, together with many pictures.

One of the sites was a former malting house for a well known Brewery...

There's something rather depressing about experiencing sites of former human activity that are falling into decay...I sometimes wonder about the former human occupants of such places, their lives and the dramas that they lived through in those places of work / living. It also annoys me seeing the tagging and graffiti sprayed on those structures...to me it has no artistic merit, and it feels like the dignity of the buildings (and the memories of those who worked / lived there) have been desecrated.


Abandoned Australia - Urban Exploration in Australia

 

This gunmount to me looks alot like an early version of 5" 54cal more than it does any 5" 38cal gun mts i had contact with. Some things however are off. Will have to do a little research. The variation of open pedistal, partially enclosed, and fully enclosed is multitude. This looks the closest to me.
or this.

 

I grew up LDS (the technically correct term for "Mormons", Latter Day Saints), was born in Utah and moved back after high school and lived there for another 12 years. I say this as background and for no other reason.

In Utah County, the "joke" was...if anyone wanted to "share an opportunity" with you, you asked a couple of questions:

1. Is the company based in Utah County?
2. Are any of the examples of success a Stake President or higher?
3. Did it involve becoming a "distributor"?

If the answer to 1 and either 2 or 3 was yes...RUN away. It was a scam and/or MLM. For some reason, multi-level marketing health food companies seemed to be all the rage for at least a couple of decades and it was sad and frustrating.

That being said, I wouldn't say that most or even many Mormons are dishonest or shady, but Utah County did seem to have more than their fair share.

Since leaving Utah, I have learned to be cautious of anyone claiming to be "a good <insert religion of choice here>". Here in the south east it's "a good Christian man/company". That is, unfortunately, code for "don't question me, I'm honest, I wouldn't lie to you, just sign on the dotted line, you can trust me" and will result in a back stabbing 100% if the time, zero exceptions.

Again, that having been said, it's only the ones that feel the need to tell you how honest they are, which is not unique to Christians or any other religion. Don't tell me, show me.

 

I lived in a heavily conservative LDS area of Eastern Idaho for three years. I didn't have any bad experiences and found that they treated me a lot better than the area i moved from (Nutlandia, which wasn't so bad then, either). I was mildly ripped off by an auto mechanic that wasn't connected to them, but that's about it. Streets were clean,schools were good, etc.. I had a few door knocks on Sundays pushing the religon, but you get that anywhere. The only strange thing was that Halloween couldn't happen on Sunday (Even though it's a Christian holiday - All Hallowed Eve), so I got caught off guard on that one year. On the other hand, when my car quit in traffic one day instead of getting car honks and the finger, people go out of their cars and offered assistance.

 

I have property near Nowhere-in-Particular, Utah. Years ago I had to remove everything moveable or the 'good neighbors' would steal it. Not unique to Utah or even rural areas. There is another thread here (stealing veggies) where urbanites stole the dirt... yes, the damn dirt, from what was to have been a "Community garden".

These gardens do work - just not everyplace they are tried.

 

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The 5 in mounts likely came from the predecessors to the Fletcher class Destroyers, but I'm no expert and am going on what I was told. They do look very much alike. If there was a build plate and the plant that made the guns could be determined, that would give a firm answer as to the type and date of the mount. It's my understanding that If they were Built By Dhalgren, they predate the Fletchers, and if built in the Philly Arsenal, they ARE Fletchers, and post ( Adams?)

 

There have to be 15 to 20 variations if you count dual barrel gun mounts in the variations of 5"38caliber gun mounts, maybe more. I just did a 5" 38 caliber gun mounts, then also pictures of.

 

There could be even more. I was told that during the build up pre war, that ships got first cut and shore batteries got the left overs, and when ships got up gunned, the removed guns would often be sent to the batteries as replacements or new installations!

 

LOL, I have manned and fired in some cases, 20mms, 40mm twins, 3" 50cal twins, 5" 38cal twins, 5" 54cal mk42 mod9&10s and last but not least 8" 55cal 3 gun turrets. The 5" 38cal guns probably replaced the 6" older guns because of the massive stores of ammo from WW2 and Korea. I served on a Reserve destroyer out of Tampa bay in the very early 70s with working 5" 38s